


Binaural

by Minusbomb



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Detectives, Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, F/M, Forests, Human, Human Experimentation, Human/Pokemon Relationship(s), Interspecies, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pokemon, Pokemon Fanfiction, Police, Psychic Abilities, Relationship(s), Romance, Supernatural Elements, Talking Pokemon, Trees
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:41:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 90,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22671181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minusbomb/pseuds/Minusbomb
Summary: Thirteen years ago, Matthew Alexander went missing from the world. Six years ago, he was pronounced dead. These reports are false, as he is still alive to this day, dodging his past and avoiding a very grave future.In order to stop the evil Team Saber, who had given him his powers in the first place, from taking over the world, he needs to spread his message around and warn people of the potential cataclysm.After a successful first message had been placed, he finds himself pushed into a corner by Shali, a tribal Lucario who has a special power of her own.Together, they will need to work with one another in order to halt Team Saber once and for all.
Relationships: Lucario/Original Pokemon Trainer(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	1. Juxtaposition

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, I'd like to say thank you for clicking on this and giving my story a chance. This was originally uploaded to Fanfiction but I decided to broaden my horizons and post it here as well.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

_Excerpt from The Goldenrod Post._

_Date: May 11th 2013_

_After years of search with no leads present to assist, the Goldenrod police department has named Matthew Alexander dead. This was the final loss of the three teenagers who had been allegedly abducted from Goldenrod high school on December 7th 2005. The previous two, Madison White and Clyde Drawlin were found two weeks later in their own beds in a catatonic state, they died four days later._

_The chief of police stated in an interview, "This was, by no means, an easy decision. We faced heavy force from the parents of these children, who are looking for who could have done this to them." The chief went on to say, "It is so hard to look someone in the eye who had just suffered a great loss and say, 'I don't know how this happened.' Because, the three children had disappeared without a trace."_

* * *

Date: January 19th, 2019

Time: 11:57am

Jeremy Orade thought he knew every action that occurred in the Silverline motel. Partly thanks to the thin drywall that lined all the rooms, including his seat behind the counter in the lobby, and also thanks to his seven years running the damn thing. All he needed was a simple knock on a counter or a slam of the toilet seat and it could be traced fairly easily to a room. It wasn't as though he had ESP levels of knowledge, there were only eight rooms all on ground level. He knew enough, however, so when somebody took it too far, he could march in and kick their ass out.

If people knew this, which they probably did considering the thin walls, they may think Jeremy would be spying on them. He would argue that security cameras were a luxury in The Trench, the worst part of town, and that he would prefer relying on his own senses. It was more than just that, snippets of information were very pricy in the dark parts of the city and could pay at least two months worth of bills if they were good enough. He never worried about getting shot when telling a drug mule that he had 2 kilos of a certain substance in his suitcase or a mob member of his conversation of an underground gambling location. If so much as a pickpocket happened in The Trench, the police would have reason for arresting everyone there. So Jeremy kept quiet, and listened.

Jeremy found it odd that there were specific rooms that people booked, on preference or at random, that had strange characteristics. Room two was always where a trade was going down, sometimes arms or drugs, always illegal. Room five was what he liked to call, "The Anguish Room". This was due to the fact that every time a couple went in there, a woman came running out, sometimes with marks, with the partner running after. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there was room he named "The Anti-Blacklight Room" from his friend's suggestion. The only hint he gave to the unlucky soul who may venture in was, "The mattress sometimes sags a bit".

Winter was an off-season for the motel. Everyone had gone off to vacation in Alola or stay behind with families. Snow was starting to pile against the lobby door so he grabbed a book from his minute pile of literature and began reading. Nobody was coming in today, which he liked. Managing the motel was enjoyable as long as you took out every measly little complaint he achieved in his career. But it didn't matter. The weather was bad and holidays were near, so no one was coming. That's why it surprised him when, out of the blue, a person with an anxious expression opened the door.

He was taller than Jeremy, which was not a hard feat, and had a grey parka that likely fetched a high price. But what amazed him was his oxymoronic head. He had white hair that stuck out so it looked poofy but still had a slight spikiness. Had Jeremy seen it first he would have thought a senior mental patient wandered in, but then there was his face. It was young, perhaps twenty years or less. Jeremy's conclusion was this was a youth who had bleached his hair or, as he dubbed, "Hair suicide" but it was definitely not. The spikes in his hair shown some of his roots which were as white as the snow outside. White as a hair colour? Odd, but he didn't consider it, the sooner this guy was out of the way, the faster the day would go by. "Whaddya need, kid?" he asked, coughing out some of the musty lobby air in exchange for the crisp, fresh variety.

"A room, if you've got one," he replied, looking behind him for a moment before turning back to Jeremy.

"Sure, but it's a bit of a weird time to ask for one, don't ya think?" he said, peering over to the clock that had its hands at one minute to noon.

The guy shrugged, "It's a weird world."

Jeremy decided to take the answer for what it was worth and opened up his laptop to input the name. He couldn't quite shake it, but had he seen this guy before? Something about his face maybe? He wasn't sure. "Your name, please?"

The guy opened his mouth and then closed it, then once again with a response. "Jacob… Jacob Reynolds."

Jeremy eyed him dubiously but put it in anyway, as long as he had cash he could call himself Johnny Fuckshit and get away with it. "...Alright then Mr. Reynolds, you did come unreserved so you'll have to make the damage deposit of fifteen hundred pokedollars now." In reality, everything in his motel rooms probably totaled twelve hundred right out of the packaging.

'Jacob' shoved his hand into a jacket pocket and pulled out crumbled bills of all values and, seemingly at random, plucked a few chosen bills and put them on his desk.

Before Jeremy even touched the bills he knew they were the right amount, and counting them just solidified his theory. "You got some weird hair there, buddy," he said, stuffing the bills into his sweatpants pocket.

"Yeah… I know," he said, scratching the head of his. It didn't even look like any hair was displaced, they just wavered from his fingers and set back to their original places. "Actually, I was born with white hair. Don't know how but… yeah," he took another glance behind him, "So do I have a room yet?"

"You do indeed, room four," he smiled, and then added wickedly, "The mattress sometimes sags a bit so just go easy on it, alright?" He grabbed the key from the drawer by his side and held it out to 'Jacob' who reached out to take it but recoiled.

"Could I have another room?" he said, to Jeremy's surprise.

"What's wrong with that one?" he replied, raising an eyebrow. Did he know about what happens in there? And again with the somewhat familiarity coming from him. This was too weird.

"It's the slow season, right?"

"Yeah, your point being..?"

"I think I can take some liberty over my room selection," said 'Jacob' in a near talking-down sense.

Jeremy knew there was something more here. But it was scary how he couldn't figure it out. It was easy to see when someone was at the motel for more reason than just to sleep, an extra ₽1000 when they pay or some extraneous substance. This guy, 'Jacob', walked in with a snow jacket, a backpack and white hair and he had the nerve to patronize him, a man ten years older than him. He counted bills without looking, knew about room four and was looked so familiar it felt like a connection should have been made, but no dice. It was fucking weird and he wanted nothing more to do with this. "Well then… which room _do_ you want?"

'Jacob' went into thought and then answered, "Room six, if it's open."

Jeremy could see it in his eyes, he already knew that room six was open. But that didn't matter anymore, he needed to get the guy out of his head as soon as possible. His hand returned the key to its rightful spot and swapped it for a key two digits ahead of it. He held out the brass key and the strap that weaved through the top hole. "Here, it's yours," he said, not making eye contact. _Just take the fucking key, kid. I don't need any torture for my brain today,_ he thought.

The key left his grasp and he heard one final message from the kid, fittingly enough, being the one that would most likely haunt him for a few days until he decided to take some of the extraneous substance in his secret desk drawer. "Thanks, Jeremy."

Jeremy never wore a name tag. And the more he thought about it, the more he came to the same conclusion. Drugs were way too potent to be wasted on a stale, three-day old memory. After 'Jacob' left, he reached down and picked a small garbage bag, hearing the crumbling of powder mountains as he shifted the contents. But just as the urge came, it left. He tucked the bag back in, picked his book up, and decided to throw on a pair of headphones.

The memory of 'Jacob Reynolds' faded within seconds. As though he never existed.

That was changed when he heard a gunshot a few minutes later.

* * *

Time: 12:01pm

He opened the door and was met with the same aged scent that appeared in the lobby. Room six was fairly neat, at least compared to others. Two queen beds with a desk opposite to them. A mirror was hung by the entrance to the bathroom and gave him the reflection of his perturbed expression. No television but that was fine, he wasn't planning on staying here for very long.

He had taken many risks coming into the motel so quickly. His appearance was eye-catching to the manager who was making a connection to him as the conversation progressed. But he was able to stop Jeremy from remembering who he was, thanks to his power. This didn't change the fact that he took a chance and nearly blew it. Oh well, he got away with it and there were much more important things at hand.

He stepped in, dragging in snow that quickly melted from the radiator nearby. His hands, which had made themselves home in his pockets, were brought out and closed the door behind him. _Time to get to work,_ he thought.

The backpack was sent onto the queen bed closest to him. Carefully, as to not destroy the contents inside. From there he cleared the desk of all the paper and contact information. He went back over to the bag and pulled out the first piece of equipment: A video camera. It was small and outdated but it was cheap and it worked. He set it on the desk and turned it on. A little red light appeared and he got into position; sitting atop the queen bed the camera faced.

He got up to his feet and stopped the recording. His fingers played with the buttons on the side until he got to his video. Sure enough, he was seated on the bed and was perfectly centered. This was good, he only got one take at this and if he blew it, well, it wouldn't turn out well for anyone.

A new recording was started and he made his way over to the bed. He sat down and began speaking.

"My name… is Matthew Elgin Alexander and… I guess I'm supposed to be dead. At least that's what everybody has been thinking for the past six years…" He stopped and sighed, "Well I'm not. And whoever group or person finds this video, don't show it to anyone else. Trust me with this, the things that I am about to share are never to be spoken about openly. You'll see why." Another sigh, "Alright, let's start."

As he spoke to the camera lens, he felt his heart was being poured out on the spot and the whole world was watching. Everything that he had experienced, everything that they did to him and everything that needed to be said was being released onto this video. There was no regret in taking this action, only release.

Halfway through his confession, a headache started building. Through the will to keep going, he managed to push it off but for how long? It was unclear, the migraines usually lasted anywhere from two minutes to two _hours_. He wasn't sure how long this speech was going to be, but he had to tell everything and a migraine was not going to stand in his way.

Four minutes more with the cranial throbbing and it was becoming intolerable. Every word undulating through his mouth caused a twist in the mind, making him pause at the ends of sentences to ease the strain. It wasn't too bad though, his episodes could be a lot worse.

Soon, his confession was ending and he found himself pushing his white hair to the side to rub his temples. "I have to repeat myself… Please, do not take this video public... For your sake and mine, please don't…"

Matthew stopped talking and felt only the steady beat of the migraine bouncing on his brain. Carefully, his hand reached into the backpack and pulled out his second piece of equipment. The dangerous object was jet black, but had tanned brown leather on its grip and a shiny grey ring around the edge of the barrel. It looked good, for a handgun. He wondered if the person he swiped it from paid a lot for it.

He gritted his teeth and shook the gun. Little clinks could be heard from the magazine and loading chamber, only one bullet. His grip eased on the handle as his body shook to the point where it nearly fell but he tightened his hand at the last moment. _C'mon Matt, don't pussy out now._

"I… I have to do this to attract people, okay? Others don't know about my ability and if I just fire randomly… it'll blow over fast. People will come, the police might too… Hopefully _someone_ will find this… Someone not with _them_." He reached his hand out, feeling the energy flow through him, and used his ability to turn off the recording. He used it once more to push it behind the desk and mostly out of sight.

He let out a monumental exhale, enough cause the shiver of anticipation to chill his veins once more. His hand tightened on the grip and quickly brought the weapon to the side of his head, feeling the hair move back to their positions despite the interference. _Please don't hurt as much as last time,_ he thought. Then he pulled the trigger.

The world was colourful with the light blue bed sheets and the textured wood frame and had a nice chill in the air from the outside snow. He could hear light creaking of the old mattress he sat upon as well as the whistle of wind blaring outside. All of that was turned off at the sound of a shot.

There was no pain for the time being, Matthew could feel the blackness around him move like a thick fluid similar to tar or oil. He was not floating nor falling, just… being. Then, the blackness caught fire and he felt the scorching pain writhe through his vessel and heighten his senses almost to the point of overwhelming. He could hear Jeremy's voice piercing through the black, saying something along the lines of, "Oh Arceus, what the fuck!" His steps went away, and were eventually covered by the high pitched note of tinnitus.

Matthew opened his eyes next, his head was searing from the wound, and saw the blurry image of the floor. The sense of taste and smell were the last to come back. The taste of copper was seemingly embedded in his tongue from how much blood was in there as well as the stench of near death roaming by his ears. A warm stream came from the right and left side of his face; the bullet had gone through fully, good.

He waited a few more seconds for the pain to settle down before he made the attempt to adjust his body. His legs, while stiff, moved on command and went from behind his head to under it.

The double vision cleared up after a few minutes. He could hear sirens from afar but due to his ears probably not working as well as they were in the lobby, they could be nearer than he wanted them to be. The last thing that he would want would be to end up in a hospital or morgue.

"Get up, Matthew. Get up," he said huskily, shaking with intensity as he felt the holes on either side of his head stop bleeding, begin shrinking and eventually, disappear. "See? You're fine, totally fine." He grimaced at the ache of his head, it would last for some time but it was not important now. The sirens were coming close.

Matthew gripped onto the sheets of the bed he once sat upon and ignored the hot vermillion stain that rested on it. There wasn't as much blood as he was expecting, thank goodness, but enough to invoke a crime scene and investigation. He took another clump of fabric into his hand and worked his way up to the bed.

After a minute of torture, he found his upper body slumped onto the top of the bed. His motor control for his legs and arms had improved and he was now ready for real movement.

His walk was slow and would probably appear to be a limp to those looking at him. Reaching his doorway, he peeked out into the snowy city. Jeremy was nowhere to be found, much to his relief. The brisk air soothed the hot patches of skin from his recent hemorrhage.

Carefully, he began walking outside and built the pace up to a steady jog. Before he knew it, the Silverline motel was gone from his sights. The lights of police cruisers and fire trucks could be seen a block away, and then, they passed him. _Alright, part two. Time to lure out the wolves,_ he thought.

* * *

He passed by the stop sign for a third time, the snow now had piled up an extra quarter inch since he checked last. It was almost becoming tiresome to walk the loop over and over, waiting for them to come looking for him. They would never took this long. For someone like him, he expected perhaps a half-loop's worth of time. Although, it occurred to him that it probably looked like he was setting up some smoke and mirrors for walking out in the open without a disguise. Nevertheless, they would be here eventually.

His environment was also not exactly the friendliest invitation. The buildings around him were dilapidated as well as everything else in the trench. Ancient relics of civilization such as phone booths remained in an almost antique state, only being eaten away slowly by father time.

A hand brushed over his hair, feeling the crumbly, solidified blood that remained from his act of self-harm. The pain had long been forgotten as well as the memory of him pulling the trigger. He knew he did it but still found it odd that one isolated memory would be gone, the rest being untouched thanks to his abilities.

Matthew stopped walking, seeing a shady, solitary figure ahead of him. There was no need for him to find out who this was. The wolves were lured out, and one was giving the impression that it was alone, waiting for the moment for the prey to get near before the entire pack comes to assault. Matthew smiled, taking steps forward.

"Hey there, Matt. It's not much like you just to be wandering in the open," the figure said, the familiar voice resonating like a cave echo. It had been some time since he had heard that voice. Though, he couldn't put his finger on who it was. Nine years had the tendency to make people forget.

"Well, a nice change of pace is welcome after some time. You should look into it… uhh... Sorry, I forgot your name, man," Matthew said, shoving his hands into his pockets. _But sometimes, I want to forget for a reason._

I heard a light chuckle from him, "Don't worry about it." He raised his head of black hair, toned to the style of a crew cut, and revealed his stark face that showed little more than the pure intention of determination. A slight smirk, revealing shiny white teeth, showed only the smallest bit of malice, but Matthew knew better. A name wasn't important if you knew exactly what they did. "I did too, thanks to you," his voice was lined with what Matthew could only assume was pique.

"Heh, I think I remember you now," Matthew said, stepping closer. _C'mon you sons of bitches, step out of the shadows already, you're not fooling anyone here._ "Colvin, wasn't it? You're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you. I guess Team Saber got your brain up and running."

Colvin's smile wavered, "Sure did, all of 'em did, actually. But I suppose you figured that out thanks to those powers of yours."

Matthew stopped walking forward, there was a good amount of length between him and Colvin but the tension was rising between the two at an exponential rate. "Are you gonna get your grunts to attack or is this gonna be one on one?"

He shrugged, "Doesn't matter, but one way or another, you are coming back to the Deity Lab."

Matthew lost his smile and narrowed his eyes. "Over my dead body," he said through barred teeth.

"I guess that's the hard part, huh?" Colvin was the one who stepped forward this time, his grin widened and discomfort set over Matthew. He stuck two of his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

Matthew jerked his head around, sensing all the grunts in the area that were hidden amongst the abandoned buildings. Then, from behind, a grunt stepped out with a Manectric and launched an attack.

"Thunderbolt! Now!" the grunt yelled, just as Matthew was turning around. The Manectric generated large sparks in its fur and launched out a bolt of lightning directly at Matthew.

It hit him square in the chest and he fell to the street paralyzed, twitching as the electricity surged through him.

_Shit… that hurt. C'mon, heal up already Matthew, don't get shocked again._ His control came back to him but he remained idle on the ground, he had to be sure about this. He was not going to be taking any risks if he had the possibility of going back to the Deity Lab.

"Shock him again," Colvin's voice drifted over to him.

"Sir?" the grunt said, more footsteps surrounding the voice told Matthew that the others were coming out. And judging by the rough scraping sounds of claws on concrete, their pokemon were coming out too.

"Do it," Colvin said coldly, "make sure he's done."

_Hate to burst your bubble but…_ Matthew jumped up and readied his attack on the surprised Colvin and grunts. His hands and eyes lit up with magenta energy and he focused it all on the ground. The resounding boom was loud enough to be classified as an explosion but there was no evidence of it.

The grunts were displaced, all of them in the position that Matthew was in a few moments ago. The short lasting earthquake had done its job. Now he was in the clear, they were focused on him and not where he had been. The tape was safe, at least for now. Hopefully it was enough time for the police to take it, and then just maybe, there was a glimmer of hope for him.

"Hey! Bastard!" Colvin yelled. Matthew turned his head.

He was standing back up, holding a black pistol, not unlike the one Matthew had used recently. His smile was far gone, replaced by the full weight of malice that Matthew remembered all too well. "Lay down the gun, Colvin, I'm just gonna leave."

"Ohh.. Ohh no, you aren't leaving… You've done too much to me without paying for it. That's gonna happen now… You are going to pay for-"

His hand was surrounded by magenta energy and his hand on the gun loosened for it to drop onto the ground. "I'm sorry, but you knew I had to break out and get a head start," Matthew shrugged, "and bullets don't kill me too well, if you remember."

The gun slowly caved in on itself, the energy flowing around it like plasma gradually crushing the plastic and metal into an abstract art sculpture. Colvin turned his eyes up at Matthew, letting out a tiny grin. "Yeah, yeah but paralysis seems to work in our favour."

Matthew only looked inside his head for a second but it was too late as another electric attack caught his backside. His muscles tensed and he once again fell to the ground, desperately trying to hold onto his powers.

It never came to pass, the electricity was keeping his powers from being released and now, just as the effects seemed to be wearing off, another shock hit him on the ground. They weren't letting up this time. But this couldn't be the end, not now. They would not take over his being and force him to be their slave. Not again.

"Zap him again! Don't you dare let him get up!" he heard Colvin scream. A bombardment of electric attacks connected with Matthew's body. The pungent scent of ozone irradiated off his body. He jerked and twitched and yelled out in pain as the electricity burned the lining in his parka and dripped liquid faux fur onto his back.

_No… Damn it… I can't let this stop me. Don't black out Matthew, don't let them take you back._ But it was so hard, the electricity kept sending the gruesome current through his nerves and pushing him to spaz in the position. All the while, he could slowly but surely hear Colvin's footsteps approaching at a frightening rate. Out of the corner of his eye, the black work boots of the mercenary stepping into view.

"This is only personal, kid. Don't think about it too hard," he said snarkily. While Matthew's ears were far from functioning at peak performance, he could still hear the click of loading a gun. He attempted to brace himself for the pain, but was not able to from the unforgiving attacks.

Agony sprung up in his right shoulder, quickly followed by his left. But the gunshot wounds in either arm were forgotten by the reminder of searing electrical suffering. _Just focus, you can get an opening soon, the pokemon ought to get tired sometime. Just don't black out._ His sight was getting rather darker than he wanted it to be.

The pokemon couldn't get tired fast enough. Every passing moment the attacks were weaker but his strength had decreased tenfold. His hope was dwindling but still he kept on, even with bullet holes leaking newly spilt blood onto the road and staining the parka a sickly scarlet. The situation he was in was very bad in itself but the Deity Lab was so much worse. Oh Arceus, was it so much worse.

Then it happened, an opening. There was a brief pause in the attacks of the pokemon and he collected as much strength as he could, almost certainly going past the safe amount of energy the body should gather in the window of time he had.

"Why the hell did you stop!? Keep going damn it!" Colvin's voice echoed in his ears.

_You got this, just focus, keep focusing until you're far away. And then… Just…_

From Colvin's perspective, Matthew had flashed a brilliant cyan then completely disappeared, leaving nothing in his place.

There was no solid emotion in his mind for a second and then-

"That son of a bitch teleported! HE FUCKING TELEPORTED! ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!?" he yelled, making his grunts shudder from his brunt. But in his mind, scared troopers took up none of the space. After nine years of waiting to get payback for what Matthew did, he disappeared.. Rage fuelled fire burned his mind, making him shout profanities to a near infinite extent.

"Sir…" a grunt said, and was given a death glare. He gulped, "He couldn't have gone far, he was weak from the electricity."

Colvin strutted forward and brushed the grunt off with his shoulder, making sure the grunt knew that he still had his gun in hand. He grabbed the grunt on the shoulder and gave him a forced smile. "Yes… Yes, of course… And that would be so nice if it wasn't for the fact that he can fucking heal and teleport another damn time!"

A beep sounded out from Colvin's transceiver and he shoved the grunt away. Team Saber just _had_ to call him now, they _had_ to call him right when he lost Matthew.

He took out his transceiver and held the side button down, "This is Colvin Drinth reporting."

A voice came from the speaker, deep and condescending which didn't help his state of mind. "Have you found NH-3 yet?"

"Yes, sir we have…"

"And…? Have you caught him then?"

He cringed, they would not tolerate what he was about to say. Right after he had begged them to take on this task, just so he could see Matthew again and take his vengeance, he had lost him. No matter how he you looked at it, he was screwed.

"No… He escaped… We got some hits off him but he got away."

There was nothing but static coming from the other end of the channel, as though their connection had been severed but this was very unlikely. Colvin gritted his teeth, Team Saber was probably debating what they would do with him now. He was once the top mercenary for the organization and never failed a task. Then, that one kid, that one damn kid…

"Come back to the Deity Lab, Colvin," the voice said softly, as though acting like a friend, "There's something we need to do."

"Sir, there's a chance that he is still somewhere around the city," Colvin said, not believing his own words. "Just give me a bit of time and…"

"This is non negotiable. Our cameras have yet to detect him regardless. Meet at the rendezvous point." The voice went silent and the static began buzzing again.

A for a second, Colvin was ready to shatter the transceiver on the pavement but resisted; this wouldn't do anything. Team Saber had his fate in their hands and was looking for ways of bending and shaping it into their own version of what they wanted, whatever he did now would only increase the likelihood of a less than pleasant end.

Unless he ran. But it was cowardly, and yet he would be free, at least for some time before Team Saber would inevitably catch him. He would be able to possibly get a job, maybe even one in his line of work and could work up to getting justice against Matthew. It may not be an ideal life, but it was life he could live. And yet…

"Sir, are we going to move out?" a grunt spoke from beside him. Colvin kept his eyes on the ground, watching tiny snowflakes fall and melt on the asphalt. "Sir? Are we-"

"Yes, let's head to the rendezvous," he said quickly, hooking his transceiver back on his belt. He breathed once, and then started forward.

* * *

Matthew felt the texture that he was atop change instantaneously from the rock hard concrete to soft but slightly frozen grass. He sighed from the relief of electricity but still felt the melted material from his parka sticking to his back.

The bullet holes that had been inflicted into his shoulders healed at a moderate pace. He soon sat up and carefully took the large winter coat off, feeling the now solidified material peel off from his skin. Once off, he felt his ability switching on and fixing up the damaged flesh. Alleviated, he brought his parka to his eyes and surveyed what was left.

The back had a gaping hole, where he imagined all the material that was once on his back was, and had its edges singed. His long sleeve shirt was much of the same, save for the larger hole. On the inside, there was a mess of milky white goo that was once the inner lining. Needless to say, it was very much totaled.

Matthew sighed, his psychic could keep him warm but his energy would go down much faster. And if he collapsed in the snow, with all his energy gone, then even his healing ability couldn't help.

But he wouldn't have that. Team Saber could _not_ win. No matter the cost he had to stop them. He just had to get another parka from a different city and he would be golden. Teleporting there would take way too much energy however, he would need to walk.

He stood up and took in his surroundings. Right in front of him was a wall of pine trees towering over the clearing he on. Snow cascaded down their needles that formed a soft and gentle ambiance, nearly forcing a smile from him. The ground was very much white and cold with a littering of pines scattered amongst the bases of the trees, thinning out near where he was. He turned around and saw the mouth of suburbs just beginning to open a little ways from him, a house sat at the end of an unpaved road and two more could be seen further down. Goldenrod City was beyond that, perhaps two miles away. The teleportation had done its job, albeit a shorter distance than he could be comfortable with. Now he could continue.

He started walking, abandoning his parka. The snow had stopped falling for now, and the wind had ceased blowing in its typical unforgiving manner. For Matthew, this little break in the cycle of shit being thrown at him was met with overwhelming solace.

His boots crunched the snow beneath him, making a _shummf_ noise at every interval of his feet coming down and then wrenching them out with a _shhuh_ sound.

_Shummf_ , _shhuh, shummf_ , _shhuh, shummf_ , _shhuh._

The beat was almost relaxing. It made him recall his time with his friends in the band they made. So long ago, such peace.

_Shummf_ , _shhuh, shummf_ , _shhuh, shummf_ , _shhuh._

Did he want to go back to that life? Yes, very much so. But he knew that it wasn't possible yet, so he just needed to make the path open for him. And that started with getting a new parka and leaving another message.

_Shummf_ , _shhuh, shummf_ , _shhuh, shummf_ , _shhuh._

The amount of messages he needed to leave didn't concern him. If he had to shoot himself in the head a thousand times over to tell people of the danger that was Team Saber, then it was to be done.

_Shummf_ , _shhuh, shummf_ , _shhuh, shu-trruh_

His mind couldn't process the break in the pattern fast enough before his right foot underneath him was pulled up at lightning speed. A measly scream of surprise shot out from him as his sight turned upside down.

"What the hell!?" he said in the confusion, swinging slightly like a pendulum. Looking up at the situation, his leg was snared in a poacher's knot of all things. Had he seriously just walked into a trap for pokemon? Wherever the hunter was, he hoped they would release him without too much questioning.

Except there wasn't anyone around to his knowledge, any human would have made themselves known by now. It occurred to him the possibility of an automatic system and seeing as that he couldn't detect anyone as of yet, he was relatively safe.

He reached his hand to where the knot was and focused his powers. He expected the knot to unravel any second and he would come crashing down but… nope.

_You're still surprised from the trap, just try again,_ he assured himself. And so he tried harder and managed to get a spark of psychic energy to be emitted from his hand before being doused quickly. There he was left with his hand extended to his feet, a strained expression being shown on his face and being hung two feet off the ground by a simple rope. He felt really stupid, as though he was missing something.

_Oh, forget it._ He abandoned his first plan and reached his arm up to the knot, being barely out of reach. He turned his head up, trying to get a better view. His arm stretched relentlessly and he swore he would pull a muscle very soon but he only managed to brush against the very edge of the rope.

"Come on… You gotta be kidding-" he was whispering to himself before he felt something sharp poke the top of his head and he let himself drop in shock. Once he recovered, he didn't like what he saw.

A Lucario was standing before him, holding a sharpened spear that it had directed right between his eyes. Slowly, Matthew raised his hands up (down?) and gulped audibly.

"Oh shit," he said, less audibly.


	2. Open Palm

_Silverline Motel:_

" _I was born on February 16th, 1989 and am currently eighteen years old. If you think the math is a bit screwy it's because you're right. It shouldn't be like it but my biological age is in fact eighteen when it should be around thirty." He inhaled._

" _About a year in, they knocked me out and when I woke up all my scars from my training was gone, just like that. Poof. Gone. Nothing left. They told me I would become their most powerful weapon in their grand scheme. But I didn't want that. Suicide had come to me as a thought over the years of training and now I couldn't do it. I must have tried it… somewhere in the double digits but nothing would do me in._

" _That's when he came to me. I don't know how long he had been there but I still wonder to this day if it was the right decision for me to hear him out."_

* * *

The spear ever so slightly crept closer to his forehead until he felt the wood grain press into it. Matthew was certain that it would draw blood if it were any sharper. Though, it did just that when the Lucario went one step further. The trickle of warm liquid finally snapped him out of silence.

"Okay! Okay! I get it!" he said frantically, and the point on his forehead eased slightly. He sighed and his leeway was promptly taken away, making him wince. "I accidentally walked into your territory and, because I'm a human, I'm a threat. I get that. I'm very sorry that I did and will be more aware from now on. Just-" He was cut off by the Lucario stepping forward which not only made Matthew wish the spear wasn't as close to his head but its hand spikes as well. "Could you please back off with that spear?!" he snapped at it.

He got his wish and the point was retracted from his head. The Lucario than twisted the spear around and swatted him on the side of his head with the butt end of it. He felt his ears ringing after the pain had subsided, his eyes were blurring and the bleeding from his forehead had yet to stop, painting the snow below him soft shades of pink and red.

_What the hell is happening? Am I blacking out?_ With his healing ability, his senses would have been restored by now, if not sooner. The grey that was beginning to plague his eyes turned a deathly darker shade.

From what he could still see out of the narrow patch of sight was the Lucario observing him pensively, eyes darting over to cover every inch of his body.

"You are an odd one…" it whispered, readying its spear again, "We will see what Elder Arphal makes of you." The spear swung back then came careening towards his head and caused Matthew to black out instantly.

* * *

He awoke with cold snow being dragged against the open hole in his shirt, causing his body to shiver… or so he tried. His body was not moving to his commands and was laid perfectly still with the only movement coming from his right leg, being pulled off in some direction by an unseeable force.

As his sight began clear up, partly from the shock of cold, he realized the 'force' was the Lucario and it was dragging him to whoknowswhere. Directly up, he saw thick branches weaving amongst each other as though part of a giant wicker basket.

Matthew looked around him, but again finding his head was held firmly in place. He tried to use his psychic powers to force his head over. It succeeded in moving two inches to the left but no more. And then he couldn't move it at all. What was this? His limbs weren't bound by any rope and the Lucario's grip wasn't greatly strong.

"You're not getting away. You will face the consequences of your trespassing," it said, letting a feminine tone to slip through her speech. She turned her head and shot Matthew a glare that caused him to stiffen, not by fear, he just felt himself go as rigid as a board before the Lucario continued dragging him by his leg.

"What did you… do to me..?" he said, trying to ignore the built up snow on his back. He quickly realized that his psychic wasn't keeping him warm anymore. This caused a panic-driven quake through his body that managed to shake him a bit before he was locked in place yet again.

"The more you struggle now, the faster your energy will deplete and you may end up freezing to death. So I suggest you be still and you'll get warmth soon," she said. Her spear in her opposite hand twirled to face him, threatening him with the pointed end he became too acquainted with. "I merely disabled your body functions using aura, but seeing that it is a bit imperfect, you'll have to not move for some time, got it?" she shoved the spear a few inches shy of his face without looking before returning it to her side, "I won't hesitate if I need to."

"And I s-suppose this a-a-aura of yours isn't w-wearing off any time s-s-soon?" he asked, feeling the cold send his lips into a stutter.

The Lucario turned around, "So you understand me then? That will make things much easier later on… As long as you don't try to escape, then it may be a lot harder."

She jerked his leg and Matthew felt snow slide up the hole in his back to right behind his neck. No matter how hard he tried to shake the snow out, it clung to his collar and laid against the sensitive skin, melting at a less than desired pace. He could only be thankful for his corduroy pants which had been unscathed in Team Saber's attack and therefore kept the snow out a considerable amount better than his shirt.

This train of thought caused a disturbing light to flare. "Are y-you part of T-T-Team Saber?" he asked tentatively. If this was true, then he was truly screwed.

"Team Saber? What's that?" she replied, not bothering to turn around. "If it's a group of humans you're with than I am definitely not. My tribe takes pride in the way that we are not accompanied by humans at any time. Nor has anyone ever come from a previous relationship to their human."

Matthew couldn't use his psychic to confirm her response but considering her rather haughty undertone, he took the answer for what it was and tried to calm himself down which, not surprisingly, was difficult to accomplish.

The Lucario continued dragging him along the snow without skipping a beat. The canopy had drastically blinded his view of the sky, only blips of white cloud could be seen through the tangle of branches. How far had they gone into the forest? _Too far for comfort_ , his mind replied.

He began hearing rustling from both sides of him, with even a few muffled pieces of speech here and there.

"It's a human…" one said.

"It has weird hair, maybe it's sick?" said another

"I hope so. The less of them, the better."

This back and forth of speech didn't calm Matthew's nerves down one bit.

"We're nearly there, you'll get your warmth soon," the Lucario said, beginning to drag him at a slightly faster pace. While the idea of heat was appealing to Matthew, he definitely didn't want it if it meant being around here for long. This Lucario or maybe even her whole tribe wasn't part of Team Saber but possibly staying the same place for an extended period of time was just not an option.

"Please… if you h-h-have any m-mercy… l-let me g-g-go and I s-s-swear I'll n-never c-come b-b-back," he said, trying to contain the cold-induced shakiness as best he could.

She laughed, and Matthew didn't need for her to answer to understand her response. "Humans… Apply some tension to their structure and they crumble like a house made of sand. You should be praying that the elder does not punish you harshly, I know I won't be." She continued to laugh to herself for some time before tapering off and regaining composure.

Matthew felt his body go over a bump, knocking his head on the rock-hard snow-ice and caused ringing to sound off.

"Watch yourself, there's a root," the Lucario added mockingly.

_Gee, thanks a lot,_ he thought, ignoring the pain.

The voices among his sides were becoming more and more prominent, hopefully that meant this freezing drag was about to end soon. The conversations that he heard, however, still managed to keep his anxiety from getting too low.

"I wonder where Shali found it... Maybe it doesn't have a home," a younger voice spoke.

"I've never seen one with white hair, did it get stuck in the snow?" another questioned, with a voice similar to that of the first. _A pair of Riolu,_ Matthew thought and felt his body stop.

"Tuwa? Meli? Could you tell my father that I have a human that wandered in?" the Lucario named 'Shali' said.

"Okay!" one of the voices said cheerfully, not giving much indication which of the pair it was.

Footsteps in the snow could be heard trailing off, followed by, "Meli! Not fair! Wait for me!" said Tuwa. More footsteps were heard going off.

"Y-y-you kn-know…" Matthew started, still not warranting a head turn from Shali, "if y-you let m-me into w-w-where your tr-tribe is… I m-might d-d-do some b-bad things… seeing th-that I am a h-h-human," he threatened halfheartedly. Of course he didn't want to _actually_ do anything to hurt them. But as he had learnt time and again, sometimes a threat is enough. While this didn't cause her to move her head, it did prompt a spear point to his left leg and in his rigid state, it hurt much more than it should have.

"Is there actual weight to your statement or are you just trying to scare me?" she said, not really sounding that she cared much of what Matthew had said.

Matthew didn't respond. The Lucario was too determined for her own good. Or for his, for that matter. The spear left his leg and dragged a steady flow of blood with it. "Exactly as I thought," Shali said, satisfied.

There were a few more minutes of dragging with no speaking between the two of them. Matthew was becoming increasingly paranoid of the fact that he might get hypothermia soon if there wasn't a good source of heat somewhere close. And just when he thought he would pass out again, he heard the steady crackling rhythm of fire.

His eyes, which had been systematically frozen to the sky, looked around at his surroundings. He felt a general sinking feeling being settled in his gut. Multiple Riolu and Lucario were looking at him with a variety of emotion. Some with interest, others with anger and, more interestingly, a few with amusement. They were completely silent too, a feature which he found very unnerving. Shali continued dragging him through the crowd without halt.

In his field of view, there were a few Lucario who stood out from the rest. They bore a crescent of red across their chest spike and on top was a single dot, the same pattern appeared right above their eyes. Matthew could only pick out two or three as he passed them but they appeared to be holding back the rest of the pokemon.

As the crowd thinned from either side he saw trees with a thick structure, much thicker than one would find randomly traversing through a forest of varying magnitude. They also had the crescent and dot symbol present on their trunks.

Then, there it was. The holy grail. Fire. It was a slight bit bigger than an average campfire and he could feel its heat reach him comfortingly. The logs were arranged illogically and collapse seemed rather imminent but those thoughts took a backseat to relief. He let a sigh escape his lips.

The sun was only shining through a breach in the canopy hundreds of feet up. Snowing just a couple of minutes before, winter had taken the time to relax but if he knew the Johto region as well as he did, it would be back sooner than later. And with a lot more vigor.

On that thought, he realized the ground here was not covered in snow, thankfully, and was instead more just frozen solid. This was especially puzzling because he could see branches above him holding the white powder. He pondered this briefly before coming to terms with the greater situation at hand with Shali dragging him further away from the crowd.

He stopped moving and his eyes went to the Lucario standing above him. Shali remained motionless and eventually she dropped his leg to the ground. Matthew, realizing what this could mean tried move around but found he was still locked in.

"Didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?" Shali whispered.

"The human is still trying, is he?" a older, gruffer voice said. Matthew attempted once more to move his head and this time he actually managed to. In fact, all his limbs were completely free again. This confused him and he remained relatively motionless on the ground before the voice said, "You can stand, human, as long as you don't cause trouble."

He tilted his head to either side, seeing neither Lucario nor Riolu, and pushed off the ground to stand back up. Finally, the snow which had been forced into his shirt, while only small bits now, dropped out. Heat from the fire carried over and warmed his body generously, stopping his shivering for now.

Shali stood in front of him but since her height was shorter, he had no problem seeing who was speaking to him. Three Lucario stood, each with the markings that were seen on the guards with an addition to the pattern being another crescent that mirrored the one below it, creating an odd eye shape. The one on the left didn't appear to be very intrigued by much of anything but the right one, who held a scar to the left of his chest spike, had a proud look to his face. It wasn't hard for Matthew to come to the conclusion that this was Shali's father.

The one in the middle was the one who stood out the most. On top of having the markings of the former two, its spikes appeared to be shiny and polished. On its wrists there were metal shards being held up by ratty looking string. "My name is Arphal and I am the elder of the Aperta tribe," he said, an almost archaic overtone being heard. It was then Matthew noticed his grey fur near his ears and markings on his head.

Matthew's thoughts immediately went to teleporting but he was stopped by two roadblocks. One, they could easily notice him glowing bright and stop him with their aura again. And two, even if he managed to get that far, there wasn't enough energy left in him from being devoid of heat to get as far as somewhere warm. So, for now, he played along with the conversation.

"May I ask why I am here?" he tried to say as politely as possible.

To his surprise, Arphal replied quickly and with a similar tone, "So you can understand us, hmm? Well, as I am sure Shali has told you already, you were trespassing into our territory and have to face the consequences."

"While I assure you that I had no intention in coming into your territory, there wasn't exactly any significant markers to indicate that I was," Matthew replied, being aware of the hundreds of eyes that were burning into the back of his head.

Another surprise from Arphal, he smiled, "There were many markers at the start of the forest near your human houses, were there not?"

At first Matthew thought he was joking but quickly remembered he had landed _in_ the forest, not in front of it. "Well, you see I-" he cut himself off. Openly saying that he teleported there? Was he crazy of thinking of such a thing? Shali and the rest of the tribe probably weren't with Team Saber but who knew what they would do with him if he divulged that information. He finished after gulping, "... must have accidentally missed them, I'm sorry that I did."

Arphal nodded understandingly which gave Matthew some hope, although that did not last with the following words. "I'm quite certain that you are telling the truth. Regardless, you are a human and any human who comes into the Aperta territory is to be executed."

This caused a murmur of speech to be heard by the spectators behind Matthew but Arphal quickly silenced them with a wave of his hand. Matthew felt venom start to gather in his speech, waiting to be released but hesitated, not wanting to guarantee his demise. His healing power had still not come back yet, the solidified blood on his forehead and leg still made themselves known. Shali's aura had yet to leave him fully. Calmly, he said, "Sir, you seem to be very wise. If people find that I am missing, they will send many search parties into this area and may kill some of your tribe. Neither of us want that and both of us want me to get out of here. So, I suggest you allow me to leave and I will never come back."

This time there was a very audible laughter in the crowd, so much so there was even a blush being hinted at in Matthew's cheeks. Even the two adjacent to Arphal, who had held neutral expressions for the majority of their conversation, allowed snickers to be heard. Arphal himself had an amused expression but surprisingly, he didn't hear any hints at laughing from Shali.

"Elder, I don't believe he thinks were serious," she said clearly, making Arphal turn back to stoic quickly.

"Yes, well it appears that way," he said to her, than turned back to me, "Our tribe has done this time and again. If there is no human to be found than why accuse us? We have given those who come looking for them hospitality and made sure they would not suspect us."

Matthew had a little trouble comprehending what he was listening to. He was about to murdered, and then would never have the chance to alert people of Team Saber. When he opened his mouth to speak, Shali beat him to it.

"However true that may be, Elder, there is something more here. Have you read his aura? I'm certain you will be surprised," she said.

Arphal nodded and angled his head down slightly in concentration. His aura sensors on the back of his head were lifted by an invisible wind. Matthew couldn't physically feel anything probing his very spirit but there was definitely… something there that caused discomfort to rocket through him. Shortly after Arphal started, his eyes opened and his aura sensors drifted down thanks to gravity. He seemed rather enlightened and was overtly surprised. "Well this is a _very_ interesting development."

Matthew didn't like the tone one bit. "What does _that_ mean?" he asked.

Arphal grinned, "Your aura is very unusual."

"I'm pretty sure I got that. Exactly _what_ about it is unusual?" He took a defiant step forward but was stopped immediately by Shali, shoving her blunt end of the spear back into his gut. He doubled over and fell to his knees, his hand resting on his torso which was gaining a new bruise.

"Talk harshly to the elder again and I can promise more than just a poke," Shali said, returning the spear to her side. Matthew attempted to get up again, but was locked in place by the aura again.

"Perhaps it is only natural to be a bit… unstable, Shali, considering what his aura is," Arphal said, a small wind blowing his fur to the left. "Human, it seems you have two auras residing within you."

This didn't exactly drop any bombshells to Matthew, but to the spectators behind him, there were several instances of gasping and confused and almost worried mumbling. _Two auras? What is that supposed to mean?_ he thought, not giving much in the way of facial expressions. Was he supposed to feel scared or unnerved? The significance hadn't dawned on him quite as much as it had on others. _I mean, how would I even have a second aura in the first place? It's not like there's… Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me._ _ **He's**_ _my second aura? That son of a-_

"This does change some things, I must admit," said Arphal, raising a paw to silence the audience. He still had some visual awe from his recent discovery.

Being careful to not earn another injury, Matthew calmly said, "Exactly what does that mean in regards to myself?"

"An individual with two auras has never properly observed before, perhaps we should keep this one for the time being to determine if they are dangerous," the Lucario to the left of Arphal said.

"While true, Taregan, it is a human no matter the number of auras it has," said the Lucario on the right, reminding Matthew that this was Shali's father. He did not seem terribly malign to what 'Taregan' had to say but it was not without bitterness hidden beneath. "And we should hold true to our laws."

"Now, now Tokala, you've made your point," said Arphal, looking beside him and staring each of the arguing figures down until they both stared at the ground. "This is a new occurrence and while I agree with Taregan in the way that this should be investigated-" Taregan put on a prideful face, "but as Tokala points out, we must also follow what we've lived by," Taregan returned back to indifferent.

"What do you suggest then, Elder?" asked Tokala, glancing at Matthew with reproachful eyes. Matthew could feel the intense heat that they gave off and began to be increasingly more uncomfortable than he already was.

Arphal took a step forward and almost immediately, Shali stepped back with him. They were almost in tandem with one another and as he finished stepping, only a foot or two away from Matthew, Shali was positioned a few feet behind. "In three days your fate will be decided, human. To die or to remain as a means to our education. Should the latter become true, you will stay until the end of your days and never be freed. Keep in mind that should you ever lash out against any members of my tribe or attempt an escape, your death will be certain and drawn out for your crime. Do I make myself clear?"

He had made himself clear alright and Matthew did _not_ like it one bit. This couldn't happen to him and he wouldn't let it if that was still possible. But with Shali shackling him with aura and Arphal and the other two deciding his death in three days or a hundred years, things looked a lot bleaker than he wanted them to be.

A spear-end struck against his back, "Answer the Elder, human," hissed Shali. The spear-end was replaced with the sharpened point, lightly digging into his back.

"You made yourself clear," said Matthew, not looking at Arphal. _This is only a blip, Matthew. You can get over this. It's not like you haven't gotten yourself out of tight situations before,_ a rather optimistic side of his mind said. But he wasn't so certain it would hold true.

"Good. I hope I did," the Elder Lucario said. His smile seemed gentle though looks were all too often deceiving. "Shali."

The tip of the spear left Matthew's back. "Yes, Elder?"

"You will be in charge of watching the human. Your border patrol duties will be put with someone else." Arphal began walking back to his original position. "I take that you are well prepared for the job?"

"Absolutely, Elder. I won't let you down."

"I trust that you won't."

Matthew suddenly felt his whole body shift upwards and before he realized it, he was standing straight up. Shali walked forwards and stopped as her spear grazed his arm, making him nervously shiver. _So she can control my movement now? Oh, that's just perfect,_ he thought sarcastically and even managed to get the slightest smile out of it.

"This judgment has come to an end," said Arphal, holding a stern gaze that made the forest deathly silent. His eyes wandered over the Lucarios and Riolus before speaking again. "We will now recite our pledge to Sphaera…"

To the side, Shali dipped her head down and closed her eyes as though in prayer. Matthew was left confused, _Sphaera? I guess that's who their god is, I didn't think anyone used anything other than Arceus though. Interesting._

"When an open palm is met with another…" Arphal started.

"An open palm allows the flow of aura…" everyone else said.

"When the flow of aura is held with an open palm…"

"The flow of aura holds true for all…"

"A true aura is to be held with an open palm…"

"For the truth is a right given to those blessed by Sphaera…"

"Sphaera remains our guardian and as such…"

"We hold her gift with an open palm and wear it until our end," everyone else finished.

_Amen, I guess,_ thought Matthew and apparently no one else. There was another uneasy quietude amongst the forest where you could hear Fletchling and Taillow miles away, chirping happily as though they had caught a meal. It was then broken just as he began to enjoy it.

"Well said, everyone. You may go about the rest of the day as you please," said Arphal. He turned his head to Shali, "Take the human over to that tree there," he pointed to a tree near the fire, "We don't want him freezing on us yet." He walked back towards a tree that had the tribal symbol on it and picked up a decent length of rope from its base. "Tie him up in case your aura falters for any reason."

"Of course, Elder," she said with a seemingly subliminal message that read, 'Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen.' Shali took the rope from him and grabbed Matthew's forearm as well. With his aura-locked body, he mindlessly followed the direction she pulled him.

Matthew was having a plethora of negative thoughts towards this tribe. But the one that he supposed, to put it to a word, _suppressed_ the majority of them was that this was fair in most of their minds. It was true that humans treated pokemon the very same, capturing them without permission and juggling their fate with unstable hands. And it was also true that he himself experienced firsthand this dreaded side of mankind. He had tried to become better than them, always attempting to stay on a good note.

It was clear that the Aperta tribe was not looking to become better, but to get even.

Shali dragged him until they were both just a few inches away from the tree where Matthew felt his body force itself into a sitting position. She held the rope spool with one arm while she pulled length out with her opposite hand. "Hold that," she said, holding out an end to him. His body hitched, and his right hand grabbed it quickly. She went off to the left, trailing rope behind her. Once her body made a reappearance she continued to circle the tree until the rope had coiled firmly around his chest. With a pull that shoved all the air from his lungs, but didn't loosen his grip on the rope, she took the end from him and tied it in a reef knot. Just as though it appeared he _maybe_ had a chance of untying it, she led the rope until the knot was at the opposite side of the tree. The bark was rough in places but provided a decent comfort to his back from the open shirt hole.

Her figure returned to his line of sight and she stood solidly, her spear-end dug into the earth only a few inches ahead of his feet. Though her head was turned, Shali still gave a presence of intimidation. While Matthew was well aware of this, he wasn't overly invested, his mind was elsewhere.

_I still can't believe_ _ **he's**_ _my second aura. It seems I can never get away from you, huh?_ Matthew thought to himself. He waited for a response but only heard radio silence. It had been this way for too long and the fact that he hadn't responded or actively played a part in his thoughts was very unnerving. _Where the fuck are you?_ he said in his head and again garnering no answer.

A wind blew by, sending a brick through his concentration and causing a shiver to quake his body. The fire flickered, briefly having no flames before rising strong once again. The heat met his skin and he attempted to scooch closer to it but found the rope was too tight.

On the opposite side of where he stood, a Lucario brought a piece of wood over and threw it onto the fire, breaking the flame-stricken ones and causing a storm of sparks to erupt from the top.

There was the brief hope that the wood would pop and send embers to burn the rope off but he was still thinking one step ahead when he should be doing long-term.

He had to be patient. He had done it before, he would do it again. But this time, he hoped it would be without _him_.


	3. Staring Into A Spoon

_Silverline Motel:_

" _I… I actually don't think he's genuinely bad, or at least, not intentionally. But his methods that he tries on me are, well, not favourable in the slightest. Me and him just don't see eye to eye often. Sometimes he goes silent and… Actually, since starting this whole 'Team Saber Alert' thing, I haven't heard a peep. It's gotten to the point where I'm just about prepared for him to launch some sort of sneak attack on me."_

_Matthew rubbed his head, a slight throb was beginning to form. "The one thing we agree on is to disassociate ourselves from Team Saber as much as possible. Which, I guess I'm not doing my part too well right now, huh? But were still different. By how much, you might ask? Well, heh, how much time to you have?_

" _Am I thankful he helped me pull us out of the hell hole that was the Deity Lab? Yes, very much so. That doesn't mean I was happy with what he did, or at least started to do, for our way of escape."_

* * *

Positive visualization. Every which way Matthew had turned to for advice in high school it was always positive visualization. His teachers, parents, even some brainy acquaintances at times. This is what Matthew had tried to apply to the situation that laid before him. Sure, it wasn't as if this was right before a test or exam but he felt that if he concentrated hard enough, maybe he'd trick himself into thinking it was true.

A piece of meat laid on the ground. And he so desperately wanted it to fit his vision of perfection. His eyes closed and he hoped for the best. Perhaps a nice brown top with a light pink in the center, medium rare was always his favourite. It was cut into good chunk, covering almost the entire plate. Maybe even a light pool of gravy gathering on top of it, waiting to be engulfed in a single bite. Hell, why stop there? Just add a mound of mashed potatoes and some carrots and boom! You got yourself a mighty good dinner.

He opened his eyes and knew this was far from what he wanted. On top of not having the aforementioned side dishes nor the gravy, it was far from a good chunk and probably wouldn't even cover a quarter of the plate. The only thing he seemed to get right was that it was, in fact, rare. The problem being, it was so rare that it was _raw_.

The mind that had held the positive visualization started backpedal, beginning to see all the negatives. Starting off with the fact that he had absolutely no idea what pokemon the meat came from. This far from his comfort zone as his family always had synthetic meat instead of ones you'd get from farms. It was good, clean, didn't affect pokemon, it tasted good too. This piece was coated in dirt, was discoloured in areas and might even have a disease. It also came to his attention that it appeared to be mostly gristle, as white fatty parts dominated the overall meat chunk.

In a last ditch effort, his mind uttered timidly, _It_ _ **is**_ _food, though_ , and to that he agreed. That didn't mean he had to eat it however. If he ate something and ended up with a stomach bug, then it'd be all over. It also wouldn't be the end of the world if he didn't eat today or tomorrow, he had eaten a good amount during his brief time in Goldenrod city, there was no rush… yet. And that was the part that made it so uneasy, the idea that he might have to allow coalition between him and the Aperta tribe and sacrifice his chance to warn of Team Saber.

"You better eat that, you probably won't get any tomorrow," said Shali, still having her back turned to his slouched, sitting figure. She had essentially vacuumed her ration into her mouth without a second thought when they were first handed out. At that moment, there was a twang of envy that surged its way through Matthew when he witnessed this. While dismissing it, the thought still hung over his head like a dark cloud. Why couldn't he just do it like that?

"Yeah, fat chance of that happening," he replied, finger combing his hair. Tiny pellets of snow still fell out even after five hours of sitting a decent distance away from a campfire. Though in fairness, the flames' height had diminished as less wood was put on it over time.

"I guess you're happy being hungry then," she said, keeping her perfect balanced stance. It amazed Matthew how dedicated this Lucario was, even after such a long amount of time, she still held strong. Even a shift change had to be inevitable at some point but she just kept going. Not even the tiniest shift of her spear was seen. "Hey."

"Hmm?" he said lazily, turning his head up to see a pair of solid eyes staring back.

"Are you cold?" she asked.

This question was taken as a surprise to him, her voice had even a touch of compassion as though she really wanted to know if he was alright. Careful to not blow his chance, he said, "Well, the fire got a little smaller so I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable right now," he ended with a lighthearted grin.

She returned the expression, "Okay then," she said. Her head turned back towards the fire and… nothing.

Matthew was confused, "Uhh… were you gonna do something?" he said.

"No, just making sure you weren't dying," she uttered a small laugh and than left him at that.

He gritted his teeth and sighed. In his view, he saw the little structure the fire had collapse in on itself leaving little more than burning red embers and stray bits of flame. The heat was nearly forgotten in his body and his fingers were already turning a scarily bright white. He put his hands together and rubbed to savour the tiny heat from friction. Looking again, his fingers returned to a bright red but rapidly turned back to the white. It became clear that the night would be very unforgiving.

"Shali?" someone said, and they both turned their heads up to the voice. A Lucario, smaller in height to Shali but bolstered several scars on their chest and head.

"Yes, Kaya, what's the trouble?"

Kaya's eyes went over to Matthew who stared down at the ground. "The elder wants you to know that you're free to push the shift to someone else for the night, if you would like to."

Shali shook her head, "Tell him I'm fine right now. But honestly, who could really replace me? My family is the only one that carries the ability to control movement through aura." Her pride, without a doubt, shined through in her statement.

Kaya looked uncertain for a second and then said quietly, "Azen probably could."

Shali scoffed at this statement and her grip on the spear tightened. "Azen can shove that ego of his up his own. I doubt he could hold on to this one," a glance was cast at the human, to where he denied the reciprocal. "Those two auras are almost fighting with one another. Just now one of them seems to be really unstable."

_Unstable? What? Oh Arceus, please don't tell me he's going to take over me when I'm in this state, that_ _ **cannot**_ _happen,_ Matthew thought, practically crazed.

Kaya nodded lightly and went off, "Well, if anything happens, you're free to do as you please to the human," she said in a reminding tone. In acknowledgment, Shali raised her spear and shot a quick, driving blow of the blunt end into his side. He let out a breath of pain and shut his mouth, not letting them get any pleasure out of his suffering.

"Don't worry, I'm well aware," she gave a grin and Kaya disappeared from sight.

The ache was set back in his mind as thoughts began to form. _So you're fighting with my aura, huh? I can't seem to see it. Are you going to come out or not? Stop being a pussy and show yourself! You can't fool me, we both know that. Well? Come on, I've had just about enough of your silence so_ _ **start talking!**_

* * *

There were no replies that came in within the few hours that Matthew managed to keep his eyes open. It amazed him that he found a way to sleep, though it was far from what he would prefer. The tree's frozen bark was about as soft as the frame that held his bed, but support definitely helped him fall asleep. The fire was long gone, reduced to a weak red, glowing base that was fading. He didn't know why he hadn't froze yet, but had a suspicion lurking in the deep parts of his mind.

Shali, while still going strong, was feeling the entrancing sense of slumber. Her eyes began to be closed longer than usual, her grip on the spear slowly sliding down as it was being used more and more as a crutch rather than a weapon. _In hindsight, it may have been a better idea for someone else to watch the human when he was asleep and couldn't do harm,_ she mused to herself.

The only thing keeping her going was her determination but as much as she didn't want to admit it, even that was wearing down. It didn't help that her aura-bind was consuming so much of her energy, maybe if she just toned it down a bit she could keep going? It wouldn't be that bad, and this human wasn't going anywhere soon.

She sighed, feeling herself slide a few inches down her spear. There was no going around it, if she wanted to keep her shift all night and manage to stay awake, she'd have to lower her aura use.

She began easing her aura output down, the result was nearly instantaneous. Her body felt completely solid again, and she adjusted herself so that she was no longer using her weapon of choice as a means to stand up. The grip she had on the human was still tight nonetheless, there was no way he'd be getting out of here still.

* * *

"...thew… atthew," a voice said in a husky whisper, not quite shaking Matthew from sleep. It hadn't occurred to him yet, but this voice was not from the outside world.

"..Matthew," it said, louder. In response, Matthew gave a light grunt and tried to go back into his sleep properly. The voice was not having it.

"Matthew. Wake up. You wanted to talk, I'm here, let's make things happen."

This got his attention, the voice was no longer empty, it had force behind it. He knew who was talking to him and had been lamenting over whether to continue it or not, there was no real reason for him to be here now, none that Matthew knew of at least.

Very slowly, he opened his eyes, feeling the curse of the sandman lifted from his body. There was no one in his sight as of yet, but it did always take a little while before a solid connection between them was established. The only sights in his vision were that of sad string of smoke timidly rising from the old fire and several trees behind it. The Lucarios had gone off to wherever they slept, leaving him and Shali relatively isolated.

"Matthew."

He heard the voice in his head and found himself staring at a twin, just behind the dead campfire. His face resembled that of his perfectly, his white hair the same to every last point, and his figure the exact same. The things different were those that Matthew craved for; the untorn clothes, healthy pink fingers and a rather sly, comfortable smile.

_Neo, it's been sometime, huh?_ he thought, knowing full well Neo could hear him just fine.

Neo's smile shrunk and he stepped closer. His legs fazed through the charcoal wood pile without any black scuffing onto the pants, as though he were a ghost. "Why am I here, Matthew?" he asked, rather dryly.

Matthew looked to Shali, who appeared to not have noticed anything yet, and said, _We need to talk about the future._

"Sure, what aspect of it?" he asked, walking forward. Matthew had a throb in his head, another migraine, which was normal whenever Neo was present. "The fact that you're not gonna have one if you don't fix things in three days?" a smirk formed, "Or perhaps it's the possibility of me taking over?"

Matthew gave him an even stare, trying to cut him down to his level but did little to aid him. _Listen. This is for both of our sakes, Neo. And-_

"No, you need to listen, Matthew," he said, losing the smirk and allowing a serious tone to flow through his voice. "You need to know that this is what happened when _you_ decided to associate us with Team Saber again."

_This was never-_

"It was. You decided to fake the suicide to get cops in the room to get the tape. Then lure all possibility of Team Saber following you to an empty street corner, promptly get yourself electrified and land in the middle of fucking nowhere!" Neo's steps slowed, he was only a few feet away from where Matthew was, even though in reality, he hadn't moved the slightest distance. This was only a show of intimidation, which, must to Matthew's dismay of admittance, was beginning to work its way through.

_Well, if you let me finish than I'll-_

"Then we end up here. Right fucking here. We're tied up by a pokemon tribe that'll kill us in three days. Maybe not us. Definitely you but I'm stronger, I could break free and-" It was Matthew's turn to play the cutoff game now.

_And what if you're not? Maybe I bit off more of you than you know, you could just as easily go away without a trace of your existence. So we need to help-_

"What? And I'm just going to help you out? No, no, no, I get it. I've practically been your slave for nearly ten years. It makes sense you'd want to get all the mileage out of-"

_JUST!- Shut it for now. Please._ Matthew felt his mind growl at Neo. There was a very uncomfortable silence between them. Neo had yet to move forward and neither spoke to the other. Matthew noticed his twin took glances at Shali with a displeased expression. Shali had yet to notice the banter between them, which was not surprising. She could read aura, not thoughts.

"So is she the one whose locking us in place?" asked Neo, facing Matthew again. He had his arms folded over his chest, as though disapproving of Shali.

_Yeah, she's the one. And if you're thinking about it, no, we can't convince her to let us go._

"I figured, but I can't keep us warm forever," he said.

Matthew felt a sudden dip in his core temperature before feeling it rise up again. _So you are keeping us warm. I didn't think you had power left after she binded us._ Neo gave a huff of displeasure.

"Fortunately for you, I still do and just enough at that. You're just lucky I need a living vessel to take over, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered." Neo was now nearly face to face with Matthew, bearing an almost sick smile. And acting as though he was begging to get a reaction out of him.

_Honestly could you just drop it now and focus on what's happening right now? We're never gonna get anywhere with this if we coming back to this place between us._

Neo's expression changed slightly, a bit of creepiness had subsided and replaced with something wily and unpredictable. "You know it's coming soon, Matthew. You'll have to let me take over."

_What did I just say,_ Matthew thought angrily, starting to feel words appear in his throat but he swallowed them before they could be free.

"Time to face the music, your control over me is coming to an end. It might not be today nor tomorrow but it will happen. You can count on me for that one."

_Neo, you have to-_

"And I don't care if Team Saber does whatever they're gonna do as long as we are far, far away from it. So-

"Shut your fucking mouth, Neo…" Matthew thought aloud. While only a whisper, it made him realize that he wasn't the only one that heard it.

Slowly, he turned his head up and saw Shali looking down at him, tired but still holding an intrigued look. Her spear had dug into the frozen ground at least an inch from it being a support tool for her weight. While brief, Matthew saw her aura sensors up for a moment.

"What?" she said, holding the spear tighter.

_Damnit, Neo! You planned this didn't you?_ Matthew looked around for Neo but he was nowhere to be found, he had vanished.

"What did you say? And who's Neo?" Shali moved closer to Matthew, starting to gain touches of intrigue.

"He's no one," he said quickly, easily hearing the common pitches of lying in his speech.

"That's bullshit and you know it," said a smiling Neo, reappearing before puffing out of existence.

_Shut up!_

"I don't believe you, human."

There was a light silence between the group, to Shali it was more of a pair. But for Matthew, it gave him time to reflect. Thirteen years. It had been thirteen years since Neo came into his life and since that moment, no one had ever interacted with him or had seen such an effect on Matthew's life. Now, someone had seen it and he wasn't sure what to do now.

"It's your second aura, right? This Neo?" asked Shali, kneeling down to his level.

Matthew, still somewhat lost in thought, looked up at her in surprise and then sighed. "Well…" he started, looking at Neo, who was leaning against a nearby tree as though he were corporeal, and felt a twinge of annoyance, "I'd say he's more asshole than aura but… yeah."

"And does… it… talk to you often?" was the next question she asked.

" _He_ prefers to be called 'he', and sometimes he talks _much_ too often, in my opinion," Matthew chuckled a little at the end. Shali didn't seem to share the sentiment.

"So you fight with one another commonly?"

"Huh? What do you-" Matthew noticed her aura sensors floating behind her head. "We do, sometimes, but a lot of the time he's quiet."

Shali nodded and turned away from him. There wasn't a particular expression on her face that she left him with but her eyes turned to the dead fire. It was a nice change of pace to not get the point or butt end of the spear after a conversation with her now. His ribcage thanked Shali lightly.

"I have to admit, she's not exactly bad," said Neo, coming back into Matthew's sight. He appeared relaxed and that made Matthew weary of what he may say next.

_What are you doing, Neo?_

"Relax, would you? I'm not doing anything. You're the one with an interesting idea brewing," he simpered.

Matthew felt a stone drop in his gut, there had been an idea that was initially thought of when he was captured; a spur-of-the-moment plan that did fine on paper but maybe not in the field. In short, he had abandoned it. Though, in the little back and forth Shali and him had shared, it grew a bit stronger. And the more he thought about it, the more approachable it became. The idea to become comfortable with whoever was containing him, a sort of false stockholm syndrome and act with the slack he was given.

But the reason its abandonment was so immediate was because it was inherently wrong to him. Trust was important, and he didn't want anyone's trust broken that didn't need to be. Jeremy Orade was an exception, he never truly found out who he was and if he had, then there would be a bigger problem to be thinking about. However, in all things considered, he didn't have any other feasible ideas. There were plenty of good ones, just not any possible ones.

Other than that one.

"Well, it seems you have errands to attend to, I'll get out of your hair," Neo spoke, before disappearing.

A simple head turn came from Shali, giving an almost invading glare as though trying to read his mind. She gave a slight half-smile after a couple of awkward seconds and turned back to whatever she was looking at.

"Wait, wait, hold on. What was _that_ about?" he said a bit jokingly, with only a hint of seriousness.

"Your second aura calmed down somewhat, that makes me feel better about it," she answered, allowing a little sigh to be heard at the end.

"Yeah, he left, I hope he's not back for a while. He can be a real pain if you can believe it."

"I suppose that makes sense." She shifted in her position and briefly appeared to be moving her spear. Matthew tensed on instinct but it never came, instead, all he heard was, "Are you scared of it?"

The question was, in whole, off putting. He knew Neo could never do any _actual_ damage to him as long as he made sure to keep the opening closed in his mind. It wasn't hard and would have been harder had Neo kept more of his powers when Matthew made his move. That didn't exactly keep his nerves from running haywire anytime Neo decided to give him a scare.

But in the end it was always just a scare, and holding the opening closed in his mind was not a stress-inducing task. Just a few thoughts focussing on that one area every once in a while would satisfy all needs for a decent amount of time.

Shali spoke up. "I am. The way it's always attacking your aura so aggressively, it's hard to not be scared," she said softly.

As though slapped in the face, Matthew found an epiphany: This was definitely a different person than he had been interacting with the afternoon before. Without showing too much expression that he had the realization, he said, "Yeah, he can be scary but I keep an eye on him and he tends to not be too bad." That was the truth.

Her aura sensors lifted and lowered quickly, "Your aura tells me you're lying."

"Huh? That's crazy, it's not like I'm _not_ scared of him."

"No, you're just terrified of it," another smile came from her and a surprising laugh made itself present as well.

Matthew found himself starting to enjoy the small-talk they were having, and while he didn't want to mention why she was being so open with him now to avoid the possibility of the plan coming down, there could be a chance of furthering a trust between himself and her. But not now, it was much too early for risks. "Quit laughing, at least you don't have to deal with him," he said lightly, giving a smirk.

The laughter carried on for a decent bit before Shali made herself known again. "I'm going to do something, and when I do, I'm going to let go of your aura for some time so don't get any ideas." Her voice had shifted from an apparent of friendliness back to the one he remembered from hours ago.

"What?"

"If you move, I'll have to use my weapon again," she said sternly, kneeling down to which Matthew tried to move away from despite the ropes doing their job well.

Her hand was almost in reaching distance of him before he blurted, "Wait!", and she halted. "What are you doing?" he tried to ask calmly.

"It's about your aura," she said, beginning to approach again.

"Care to elaborate?" he replied, a bit stronger in tone, though it didn't stop Shali from continuing her advance.

Her paw made contact with his shoulder, a soft furry feeling was felt and almost put him at ease from the current situation. "Your aura has been damaged, scarred even," her voice, returning to a gentler feel, said. "I'm going to heal it."

There was a sensation of heat suddenly applied to his shoulder. Shocked, he jerked his body to the side and sent her hand off. "What do you even mean by that? I feel fine. I doubt my aura is that bad," he said.

"The body and the aura have very different ways of showing stress. You don't have to worry, it won't hurt."

"That's not the point, I want to-" He was cut off by her paw pushing onto his shoulder and heat flowing into it. Before his body could try and forced her paw again, the heat struck something inside that he never thought was aching but immediately caused relief. There was location he could describe where it was happening but it was as though a deep fire was burning away all points that were plaguing him.

"With your second aura present, it isn't going to be a full healing but I believe you will feel that it was needed," she said. The heat increased, and when Matthew sucked in a breath of air with a revitalized strength, it was one of the most amazing feelings he had experienced in a long time.

The heat was gone and in and instinctively he thought, _What the fuck did she just do to me._

"Yeah, I could ask the same thing," said Neo, popping into sight, appearing surprised but relatively the same level of indifference.

_I thought you said you were getting out of my hair,_ Matthew thought with a rather positive quality to his mind.

"That was before I was given a fucking massage out of nowhere. It kind of gets you wondering what the hell happened," he said. His eyes moved over to Shali and Matthew realized he wasn't the thing that was holding onto her eyes anymore.

Her glare was far from amiable but Neo held his grin, he opened his mouth to say something but then stopped and turned back to Matthew. "I'm interested on how you'll do this," he whispered and disappeared.

"Did you-" Matthew started.

"Yes. He looks exactly like you," she replied shortly. She took her hand off of his shoulder and backed away. "It's a good thing you have him under your control, I don't want to imagine a world where he is let loose freely."

"You and me both," he nodded. "What _did_ you do to me, exactly?"

"I mended your aura. To an extent, as I said. The hurt it had sustained along with your… friend… made it so it wasn't exactly perfect," she said, almost in an apologetic sense.

He didn't really want to believe how she was saying it. Not _what,_ mind you, how. It was beginning to seem unnatural and made him apprehensive of if he wanted to further his plan. Regardless, he said, "Can I ask you this?" He inhaled, "Why did you heal my aura? I mean, you've been kind of friendly to me this past little bit, it seems weird that you'd do that to a human you're gonna execute in three days."

Shali looked up into the sky and said, "Your aura doesn't show ill-intent, and yet it has been beaten over and over to this state. One could say you are a pushover but your aura doesn't show that either, you are quite determined." She made eye contact with him, "In short, you aren't bad and I'm comfortable with talking to you. Just because you're a human doesn't mean you are immediately considered bad, at least that's what I think."

"I guess that thought process doesn't tend to run with the rest of your tribe," Matthew said, looking up in the sky with her. Clouds and canopy covered most of the view but he could make out a half-moon shape and tiny twinkling dots. There was pang of guilt that he could feel striking him.

"Well, I'm sure there is plenty of humans you could say that were bad. It can be hard to define where the line is for us."

"Yeah, society has a few too many assholes to fling around at times." Matthew was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with how she was so open to him, his voice had wavered at the end of the sentence.

Her eyes met his and there was seriousness held in the atmosphere again. "I'm not going to the one who's going to be watching you tomorrow."

"And?" he asked, somewhat confused.

"Don't try talking to them, I have a feeling they'll do more than give you the end of a spear," she warned, giving him a solid nod which he returned cautiously.

"Noted, thanks for the tip," he smiled weakly, the guilt spiking in his conscience. Shali was not bad, and taking advantage of her acceptance to him was rapidly becoming a harder and harder task to accomplish due to his moral compass being sent all over the place. "Does that end our discussion for the night?"

"Yes, I think so. We may have overstepped our boundaries, we shouldn't risk being heard anymore," she walked back over to her position that she was stationed at. Her spear dug itself firmly in the ground and Matthew felt a sudden lock on all his body movements. _Aura_ , he thought.

There wasn't anymore he could do today, he was certain of that much. But there was progress, something that he may have not wanted to gain but needed to be nevertheless.

He shut his eyes, trying to go off into sleep and saw Neo in the corner saying, "Just know that there is _always_ another option open for you," his smile reached him right before Matthew met with slumber.

_12 hours earlier_

Derek Barolin made his way back from the break room, two coffees in hand. While high-noon had already past for the day, him and his partner needed the bitter liquid all the same, putting in overtime and drinking late made the middle of the day seem like dawn. But fatigue could not stop them from their jobs, they were detectives, and pretty good ones amongst Goldenrod's 28th precinct.

There was a call made to them about an apparent suicide, and he knew him and his partner needed as much energy as possible. That was what the coffees were for.

The desk portion of the job was never active or exciting, which was shown quite visually as he walked towards his partner's desk. People wrote down criminal information, talked to some concerned civilians, occasionally searching things up on the internet for confirmation. And while some officers held appearances of care and interest, there were many that were opposite. Derek and his partner found themselves in the grey area, while leaning perhaps a little further towards the latter, at least until a case came. Which, granted, happened frequently enough that the spark never quite left for Derek.

His partner, Brian Elliott, lost the spark quite a while ago. It was nearly like a switch, one day he's fine, the next he looked about as down as half the cops in there. But he endured, maybe even gained a bit of spark back and had been a good solid law enforcer ever since.

"Hey, Brian, you look like you could use on of these," said Derek with an outstretched hand to the sleepy man in front of him.

His oak hair was messy but kept relatively in check and he wore a sleek black blazer to work every day with a standard button-up white shirt underneath. It was quite easy to tell he didn't feel the most comfortable in his attire. He looked up from his monitor to his partner, his tired but still kind face held a five o'clock shadow. "Thanks for the refuel, Derek," he said somewhat groggily.

He reached over with his left hand and plucked the cup from Derek's hands, nodding thankfully to his partner. They both took sips from their coffee, not exactly feeling the near scalding temperature of the water used to make it. After, Derek said, "We're headin' out, a case in the trench to be exact."

"Fireworks never cease there, do they?" replied Brian taking another quick sip.

Derek nodded, "It's at your old bud's place, the… Silverline? Yeah, that's it. Apparently a suicide at that."

Brian gritted his teeth, _What did you get yourself into this time, Jeremy?_ he thought rather bitterly. "Alright, so are there any other details?"

He shrugged, "Nothing else. You want to drive?"

"Nah, I think I'm still a little hungover. I'm pretty sure my fucked up face delivers that message well enough." Brian smiled, reaching down to his own little partner.

The Growlithe, sleeping in his own little blanketed cardboard box, stretched his legs out at the feeling of fingers petting his mane. His eyes remained shut and he let out a pleased sigh.

"C'mon, Pele, you've been sleeping on the job more than me lately," Brian said to his companion.

"I thought your mother told you it was rude to lie," said Derek, flashing a quick grin.

Brian ignored him, "Hey, buddy," he whispered near Pele, making his orange ears flick. "I hear there's plenty of belly rubs for a certain Growlithe who helps me out," a sing-song voice slowly starting to become present in his own.

There was still little reaction that Pele showed save for a bit more stretching and a mumbled phrase that sounded like, "Growww.. Gro.. lithe.." to Brian and Derek.

Brian shook his head chuckling and got up from his chair. He leaned down near the fiery canine's ears and said, "If you come with us… you'll get treats," then quickly backed away as Pele jumped up barking excitedly at the prospect of treats. He reared up and his put his front legs on Brian's legs.

Brian scratched the top of his Growlithe's head, "... After we finish our survey of the scene. Can't give you something for nothing."

Pele whined with annoyance and put his legs back onto the floor. He started making his way back to his makeshift bed but Brian was prepared and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a beige biscuit shaped like a star. The Growlithe immediately turned around and attempted to jump up and bite the treat out of Brian's hands who held it just out of reach.

"This is for when you manage to get into the car with Derek and I," said Brian, raising his hand as Pele nearly took hold of the treat.

Pele changed tactics, he stopped jumping and sat down. He looked at Brian with a tilted head and wide eyes and whined slightly morosely.

Brian rolled his eyes and sighed, breaking off one point of the star. He lowered his hand down to the pokemon who quickly lapped it up, breaking his sad act.

"So are we heading out or what?" said Derek, grabbing his winter coat from the desk across from Brian's.

"We are, assuming Pele's not going to try to get anymore unearned treats," he replied, also taking a heavy jacket from the back of his chair.

As though on cue, Pele rolled over onto his back and stared as cutely as he could at Brian.

"Adorable, bud. Alright, Derek, let's head out," he began walking towards the elevator with Derek closely following behind. Pele grumbled but got back up on all fours and ran after them, eventually finding a comfortable spot walking beside Brian.

Brian rode in the passenger seat with Pele in his lap who was getting in as much sleep as he could. He stroked the pokemon's fur and looked out his window, seeing Goldenrod city go by. It looked fine now with street vendors, restaurants and light traffic but as he neared the trench, things took a bit of a negative turn.

People dressed in faded old clothing, shoddy buildings that looked on the brink of collapse, in whole it was not a pretty sight but at least he figured they would be at the Silverline sooner than later.

There wasn't much interest in his mind for whatever happened there, he always figured that eventually he'd find a case to give him that certain energy he had when he first joined the squad. But it seemed that wasn't happening anytime soon, the whole reason he had for joining the police was for one specific case and when that investigation went cold only a year in, he was left with nearly nothing that captivated him.

Derek talked him out of quitting, which he was thankful for, there were still some interesting things to do in detective work. Granted, he knew the energy would never return to him, the case was a special one to him at that, so he doubted the possibility of another one that was similar.

He saw something suddenly out of place, someone wore a very good-looking parka walking about in the streets. There was no way a person who could afford a parka would be down here unless it was stolen. Then there was the hair, completely white and spiking up everywhere, was he an old guy who got lost? Definitely possible but-

Then he saw his face, a young face for sure and with a bit of blood, but he _knew_ that face. At the sight of it his breath hitched, and heart nearly stopped. His mind went completely blank and a solitary name was left in big, foreboding letters.

_Matthew._

The cruiser sped past the figure who had not even glanced at it. His breathing had yet to return to a steady rhythm for him, and eventually he let out a coughing fit.

"You alright, Brian?" Derek asked concerned, slowing the car down so he could look over at his partner.

There were a few more coughs that Brian let loose before answering, "Uh… yeah, must be a cold or something." He looked down and saw Pele also looking worried. Brian gave a small grin and rubbed the Growlithe's fur and felt his breath returning to a normal rate. Pele licked his hand and nuzzled against it, going back to sleep.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it's a cold, Chris from forensics picked up the bug not too long ago." He looked over, "Holy shit, you're as white as the snow, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah… must have choked on my own spit heheh."

Derek didn't look like he believed that at all but dropped the subject in favour of getting to the scene faster.

In truth, Brian was not okay. That _was_ Matthew. That _was_ his best friend. But… it couldn't have been. Matthew had been missing for thirteen years and then all of a sudden he appears on a random street? That was very unlikely at best and yet that _was_ him… right? He doubted it could be a hallucination, if it was then why now of all times?

_No,_ he thought, _Now is not the time. Derek and I have been called to investigate and that's exactly what we'll do. Whoever it was back there doesn't matter, the investigation matters._

He put a hand to his forehead which was getting quite warm, then the face appeared again. _I should call in sick tomorrow,_ thought Brian.


	4. 5000 Days Steady

_Silverline Motel:_

" _Maybe I should have tried to come back into this world sooner but I don't know. There's still people I care about that don't deserve to be incorporated with what I'm doing. I might not be much of a human anymore but I still have a family and surely some friends somewhere. Maybe I'll see some of them when I go to other cities and give this whole speech. I can't really see anyone from my school staying here._

" _I won't lie, I miss my friends a lot. Knowing that they probably look nothing alike to their high school selves is a bit of a weird feeling to me. On top of that, do they still remember me? Did they feel sad when I went missing, and also sad when I was called dead? I don't know, and I guess I don't want to know either. If I somehow was pulled into meeting with one again, and they recognized me, things would turn out bad. I'm sure of that much."_

* * *

Brian and Derek stepped out of the cruiser and into the Silverline motel's parking lot which was home to three other police cruisers. Pele hopped off of Brian's lap and walked to the sidewalk, waiting patiently.

From where he was, Brian could see there were at least three police officers crowded around the back of the lobby. He thought back to the first time he was in that lobby looking at Jeremy disdainfully. It had been a drug trade going on for months in the motel and he knew about it and did nothing but take bribes. He had realized quickly that this wasn't the same friend he had known in high school.

"You sure you wanna go in there? I mean, I know you two have history with one another and that could interrupt the investigation so-" said Derek before Brian cut him off.

"It won't, I'm aware he was my friend all those years ago but that doesn't change anything. I'm going in there and he's going to answer the questions, we'll bring him into the precinct if we have to," he said, reaching Pele who started following the pair at their pace.

"You're looking a little better than you were back there, Brian."

"I don't know, my throat kinda feels rough and my head's hotter than it should be. I might be taking a sick day."

"A shame, I guess I won't have anyone to toss paper at to wake them up," Derek smirked.

"Well if you're feeling up to it you could always try and hit Charlie across the room, I've seen his eyes drop a few times."

"Hehehe, get well soon, man. Try not to sneeze on Jeremy."

"If I do, he had it coming."

Derek pushed open the door. The cops turned their heads at the detectives coming in, allowing Brian to see the disconcerted expression of Jeremy.

It looked as though Jeremy had seen better days, his hair looked terrible and a faint dry odor irradiated off him. His eyes were bloodshot and glistened from the light in the lobby, had he been crying? _No,_ thought Brian, _Probably drugs, probably snorted too much._

"What's with the huddle, guys?" asked Derek, him and his partner reaching the front desk with all the officers.

"The body's not in the room anymore. We were waiting for you to show up so you can question him about it," said an officer, earning a glare from Jeremy.

"I'm telling ya, it was there when I called you and when I went back to check it was gone! I got no idea where it went!" he shouted exasperated, almost maniacally. _Whatever he's on, it's certainly not going help us,_ thought Brian tiredly.

"Look buddy, I know you're a bit on edge since you saw a dead body in your motel but you need to cooperate," said Brian, looking at his old friend dryly. That seemed to sober Jeremy up, his eyes taking on a more half-lidded, relaxed look. "We're gonna ask you questions and you're going to answer them and if we need to, we'll take you into the precinct."

"Hi, Brian," he replied, very clearly not in the same voice as he had replied to the officer. "I didn't do anything, I swear. You can believe that, right?"

"That will be determined after the investigation has been concluded. You aren't going to get any special treatment just because you used to be my friend in high school." At this moment, Pele lied down beside Brian's feet and fell asleep again which gave Brian a reason to give a slight smile in his situation.

"Could you please describe the individual?" asked Derek, getting right into questions.

Jeremy turned to him. "He was about five foot ten, young, probably twenty or younger. Uhhh… he had a parka, a real good one at that, and… Shit, he had some weird fuckin' hair."

"How so? And could we please not resolve to profanity? This is a serious investigation, Jeremy," said Brian.

"Right, sorry. His hair was white, as in white as chalk, and it stuck up everywhere like he just got zapped with electricity."

Brian's mind was in a frenzy, and while he tried not to let it show on his face, he could feel his eyes go slightly wide at what Jeremy had said. There was no way, it was impossible. He began thinking back to the figure he saw in the streets. _The parka wasn't_ _ **that**_ _expensive looking,_ he thought, _His hair wasn't_ _ **that**_ _white,_ _his face wasn't_ _ **that**_ _young. I just tried to put a name on his face because it looked familiar, that's all, no coincidence here. After all, no one goes and kills themselves and then walks out in public. That's just ridiculous._ Except, the body was gone. The lack of confirmation that he held allowed the presumptuous thoughts to roam around in his head, causing havoc.

Meanwhile, Derek hadn't noticed his partner and kept going without skipping a beat. "Any other distinctive features? As in what his face looked like or if he had any injuries?" he asked.

"Uhhh… Yeah, he looked similar to someone.. I can't put a name to it but I remembered him from somewhere," he replied, turning his attention to Derek. This piece of information did not help Brian with his maelstrom of thoughts a bit.

"That's not very helpful, are you sure there wasn't anything else? Even an expression?"

"Wait, hold on… He looked really on edge, like practically near an anxiety attack or something." Jeremy looked over at Brian, "What the fuck? Are you alright man?"

Derek turned his head and he immediately gained concern on his face. "Hey, hey, man, what's up? You've gone pale, are you feeling alright?"

Brian snapped out of the storm of thoughts and a bit of colour returned to his face, although he was quite clearly unsettled. "Uhh… uhhh… yeah! Yeah, I'm feeling fine, Derek. No problems here. I just spaced out," he pushed a smile through barred teeth. "Must've been the cold thing, heh, I'm definitely doing that sick day now, hehe."

Derek stared at him with worry, it wasn't like the laid-back investigator Brian Elliott to space out and then spout jumbled bits of sentences. He hadn't seen this much exuberance from him since when he first met him seven years ago. "Right, you get yourself home when we get back. Try not to spread that bug around too much." _Whatever it is you got in that head of yours, I'm sure you'll tell me if you need to,_ he thought.

"Is there… anything else you noticed, Jeremy?" asked Brian, bringing Derek's attention back to the matter at hand.

"No… nothing that I recall."

"Then could you take us through the series of events?"

"Fine, it might take a while," sighed Jeremy, licking his lips.

"We have the time," said Derek, taking a recorder out of his pocket and pressed a button. A red light appeared on top.

"Alright, so I'm just reading a book when the door opens and that guy comes in. I was surprised because this is the slow season because everyone who comes here for their family during the winter always stays in better places than this. He looked real anxious, as though someone mighta been following him. That's when I noticed his white hair, I thought it was bleached but it went all the way to his roots and-"

"Don't you think that information should have been shared with us when we were asking for the description of the individual?" asked Brian, trying to steady his voice after hearing the white hair once again.

"Right, my bad. Anyways, he walks in and I asked him 'Whaddya need?' and he says 'A room'. I told him how it was weird that he's asking for one right in the middle of day, in the middle of the slow season, he tells me 'It's a weird world," Jeremy exhaled. "So I ask him his name and he says 'Jacob Reynolds' but-"

"Again, you should have said this earlier, Jeremy. Is there anything-" said Brian before Jeremy started speaking again.

"No, you don't get it. He seemed to have wanted to say something earlier, but then stopped and said 'Jacob Reynolds'."

"So you're saying that may not be his real name?"

"I dunno, I never asked for ID."

Derek looked over at Brian, expecting him to have the same look of disappointment but found he appeared almost fanatic.

"But you're sure that it wasn't real?" he asked, coming nearer.

Jeremy, sensing this, backed his rolling chair up, "I'm pretty sure it wasn't, okay? But I have no idea. Like I said, no ID."

"Are you absolutely certain? Not pretty sure, not maybe. Are. You. Certain?" he said, feeling as though he was about to lose control.

"Brian, what the hell?! I told you three times now. I have no fucking idea if it's real or not!"

Brian backed up, despondency coursing through him. He felt Derek's hand clap him on the shoulder. "You should head on over to the crime scene, your 'cold' is making this really hard, buddy." Brian looked at him in the eye and could practically read his thoughts through them. _Just go, I can deal with this, don't worry._

He looked down, seeing Pele stare back up with the same amount of worry that Derek had. The weight of the situation came down on him, he had to get away from any more thoughts of this potentially being Matthew, even though there was no real possibility of it actually being him. He wiggled his foot a bit to get Pele moving and he slowly walked to the door, feeling eyes look at him. He looked back and saw his partner, his high school friend, and his colleagues all giving the same expression of surprise and confusion.

"I'll, uhh, see you later," he said embarrassingly, going outside and leaving the door to close behind him. Because in whole, he had embarrassed himself. He knew emotions needed to be controlled when maintaining the role of authority because when authorities freak out, everyone else follows suit. He had allowed Matthew to cloud his mind and cause him to act erratic, that had to stop. Matthew was _gone,_ he had been gone for more than decade, he had been pronounced dead six years ago and turned the investigation cold two months later.

He felt Pele nudge against his leg, the little pokemon looking more worried than he had been inside the motel. He let out little whines of concern and kept reaching with a paw up his leg.

Brian sighed, squatting down where Pele quickly started licking his face with a hot fire type tongue. And as much as Brian didn't feel in the mood for it, he started chuckling at the tickle it gave him. He scratched the fur of the Growlithe and received more licks as reward. This was nice, he knew it was a distraction for what he felt but it was at least nice. And through all he had just thought about, a distraction was what he admittingly needed.

"Hey, hey, that's enough, Pele," he said, slowing his scratching and so the Growlithe slowed his tongue. Brian gave Pele a smile, "Thanks for that. What would I ever do without you?"

"Growlithe.. Groww.. Gro.. lithe!" the pokemon replied, giving a grin. Pele laid down onto the sidewalk and rolled over to his back, exposing his belly. Brian complied, starting to scratch his underside, hearing the happy growls of his friend.

"I don't know what you said but you better not have made fun of me," said Brian wryly. He scratched for a few more moments before coming back into the situation. "Let's head over there, that's where we're needed."

Pele rolled back over and stared at Brian, not with worry or concern, but with a look that Brian was very familiar with. He snickered and reached into his pocket to pull out another beige star treat which was quickly eaten up by the hungry pokemon.

"You've earned it, Pele," he said softly, scratching Pele's ear.

He stood up and started walking to where the scene had occurred. It wasn't hard to identify where, there was yellow police tape outside a room far down on the right and two police officers standing guard. He had nearly reached them when he heard the clacking of claws on concrete from Pele quickly catching back up.

"Hey, gents," he said, grabbing his badge from his coat pocket and showing it to both of them. Their names were Ian and Damon, thirteen years on the force each, and in Brian's experience, they tended to receive more extravagant obligations so this probably didn't faze them too much.

"Hey, Brian. It's really just a lot of blood, nothing interesting," Ian said, stepping aside to allow Brian through the door. Damon simply nodded, which was common for his character, though Brian knew he could turn polar opposite really fast.

"I got the memo, but I still gotta do my job," he shrugged, Pele sitting beside his leg.

"Hey, where's your partner? Is he in the lobby with that scumbag owner?" asked Ian. Brian disliked how he used that term for his old friend.

"Yeah, he's in the lobby talking to Jeremy. He wanted us to split up because my.. uh... cold is making the questioning a little hard."

"Oh shit, I bet you got it from Chris in forensics. Didn't he get it recently?"

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, I'll head in now so let in Derek whenever he gets here."

"Roger that," he said, nodding to Damon who stepped aside. Brian took arching step over the tape while Pele quickly ran under.

The scene was very much like Ian had described. On the bed nearest to the door there was a black backpack, Kodiak brand, opened wide with nothing inside and right beside it was a whole mess of blood trailing down to the hardwood flooring where it was most plentiful. He stepped further inside with Pele close by him, Brian had trained him well to follow his footsteps and not touch anything important to the investigation. When he got to the space between the two queen beds there was a large amount of blood, its edges hardened to a black solid. He could also make out a few solid pieces in the mess and considered they could potentially be bone.

He saw the gun sitting near the edge of the blood pool, its muzzle coated in red. His eyes moved from the bed to the right, where he could see a little hole in the wall. The bullet had gone straight through his head, it seemed.

"Hey, Pele, over here," he said, pointing to the solidified blood. The Growlithe knew the drill, he had done this many times before. He took a large sniff of the blood, grimacing at the foul stench it gave off. Brian was all to familiar with the smell of death, he couldn't exactly detect it with his own nose but it was always at a homicide or suicide or a whatever-icide.

Pele backed off, being careful of where he stepped, and returned back to the side of Brian. "So is it a human?" he asked Pele, interested in his response. A bark was a yes and no response was a no. So far in his career, Pele had always been right on the money.

There was no response from the Growlithe, making Brian interested. "Okay then, is it a pokemon?" There weren't many who could pull off a human disguise except for Zoroark and maybe even psychic pokemon who messed with your mind.

But still no response, and that wasn't a total surprise to Brian. They wouldn't be able to mask themselves as a human after their death, they'd revert to their original form. And even then, why come to this motel? Why not kill themselves in the woods or something? Why use a gun or a backpack or whatever? This left him with one option and it was one he really disliked. He asked Pele, "Is it a half-breed?"

There more than half-breed suicides than he would have liked to experience. The discrimination, the bullying, the outright abuse they must have gone through to actually consider ending their life, it was awful. And Jeremy said this guy was young, he might have even been in high school. Whoever did this to him deserved to have a reservation in hell. Although it was unlikely that they'd ever be arrested if it was through the internet, temporary email addresses and throwaway accounts made things all the more difficult so if that was the case-

While lost in thought he realized Pele had yet to respond, which meant it wasn't a half-breed. He looked down and saw him pawing at his shoe, trying to get his attention. "It isn't a half-breed?" he asked, becoming confused. There were always those three options; human, pokemon and half-breed, what else could there be?

Pele made an odd half-growl with a tilted head, giving off the impression of confusion which Brian shared.

"You don't know?" he asked uneasily.

Pele barked solemnly and then whined while brushing against Brian's legs.

"Hey, I'm not mad, don't worry buddy," he said, squatting down and petting Pele's fur.

"What aren't you mad about?" a familiar voice asked him.

Brian turned around and saw Derek just outside the door, "Hey, partner. Did Jeremy give you the whole story?"

"It seemed like it. What was it with you not being angry with Pele?" he stepped over the tape and walked over. Brian could still see unsureness from earlier on his face.

"That blood on the floor is unidentifiable in Pele's nose. I haven't got the slightest clue why," he went for another round of pets as Pele's head drooped a bit.

"That is very weird, but maybe it's fake? That'd be interesting," said Derek.

Brian nodded at this statement, "It makes sense, that would explain why Pele couldn't identify it. But the blood is hardening and turning darker, just like real blood does. Fake blood doesn't do that."

"Okay then it could be a substitute, Grumpig blood is pretty close to the look and consistency of human blood… Wait, no, Pele would have known if it was a pokemon or not. Damn, can you think of anything else? I sure as shit can't."

Brian shook his head, "No, but there seems to be bone fragments in the blood, we might be able to find out what it was from those." He pointed over to a solid piece in the red sea.

"I see. Well, let's take a look over the rest of the room, see if there's anything else." He backed away to let Brian stand back up.

"Alright. Do you know when evidence collection team's gonna get here?"

"I got a radio call from them while I was walking here. They said a few minutes."

Brian nodded, "I was thinking I should probably take off when they get here. They'll have plenty of hands to get this whole thing organized and I'm sure if you need my input you could text or call."

Derek gave him a small smirk and said, "I get it. Your 'cold' must be pretty tough."

"Yeah, it is… I'm sorry for how I acted in there, it was a real dumb-ass move of me to lose my nerve like that."

"You're forgiven, and don't worry about it. Let's just do what we can now."

Brian smiled, "Sounds good. You got your camera?"

Derek pulled out a decently sized black camera from his pocket and pulled off the lens protector, "Of course I do."

"Cool, take some photos over here. I'm gonna check out this bullet hole," he pointed over to the wall. He walked over, Pele following closely behind to investigate with him. "Did Jeremy mention anything else interesting when he was telling you what happened?"

The click of captured photo was heard, "He said the guy named Jacob gave him the damage deposit for the room, then Jacob stopped him when he handed him the key to room four and asked for room six instead."

"Weird, any idea why?" He took a flashlight from his pocket and shined inside the hole, there was little to be seen aside from the framework and crumbled drywall.

"Nope, but apparently room four is where everyone goes to fuck, according to him."

"I don't even wanna know why he knows that, though it's interesting how he may have known that fact. He could have come here before," Brian said, leaning a little closer to the wall. There could be a chance the bullet is stuck in the framework or had gone through to the other side. He figured Jeremy wouldn't be too jazzed about having to demolish a part of the wall to recover one bullet.

"Then, before Jacob left, he apparently turned around and said, 'Thanks, Jeremy,'" said Derek, taking another photo.

"Creepy," said Brian shortly, taking his body away from the wall. He couldn't see the bullet so he backed off for now, the evidence will probably have more progress than him.

"You said it. A few minutes after that, he heard the gunshot and came running. You can probably guess what happened from there."

"Sorry, you said a few minutes?" Brian turned to his partner who was holding the camera up to his eye.

"I thought it was weird too, but it could have been contemplation or something else," Derek stood up, "Could you move out of the way please? I need a picture of the bullet hole."

"Right, my bad." He moved out of the way, looking down at his feet to not accidentally step on Pele. "I'll have to doubt you on that part, people who come to such extents to hide themselves usually have their plan all figured out. They wouldn't contemplate."

"So a suicide note, or a video maybe. That backpack must have been pretty empty if it only had a gun in it. A video camera would take up much more space."

"He could've used his phone for that. But then again, we don't have the body to confirm that," Brian sighed.

A sound pitched in both of their ears, police sirens not to far away. Derek looked at Brian and said, "You can still stay if you want, I don't want to force you into anything. Your 'cold' has toned down quite a bit since that little hiccup. I'm sure you'd be fine."

Brian was about to agree, but then Matthew made himself known. He saw the figure in the street again with a description so similar to what Jeremy had said that it couldn't be coincidence. He couldn't let Derek know what he had seen, so much could go wrong depending on how his reaction played out. He didn't even know if Derek would take him seriously or not. Brian bit his lip, "I need to work through this, Derek. I mean, I don't need you coming down with a cold, do I?"

His partner looked down for a second before coming back up with a grin, "That's true, and I guess you do need to work through this. You can take the cruiser back to the precinct, I'll find a ride with the other guys."

"What are you gonna do? Sit on the roof?" Brian chuckled, trying to bring a little lightheartedness to the conversation.

Thankfully, Derek seemed to take this change with open arms. "Well, I was thinking holding onto the underside but your idea works too," he gave off a warm smile.

"See ya later, man. Don't solve the case without me."

"Sounds good."

With that, Brian walked past Derek with Pele tailing close behind. He stepped over the tape and walked back over to the cruiser where he opened the passenger side door to let the Growlithe inside.

As he got inside the driver seat, he noticed Pele looking at him piercingly. "What's up, buddy?" He then remembered his promise he made back in the precinct. "Right, my bad."

He pulled out another treat and put it in front of the pokemon's face but Pele didn't bite it, he looked past it. An action which must have taken all his willpower to do. His eyes were locked with Brian's and it seemed to get the message through to him.

"Look, it's nothing, Pele. I had a few thoughts recently and they clouded my head. I'm just taking a day off to clear my head of it, that's all." Pele didn't avert his gaze, and to Brian it seemed like he was strengthening it.

He put the treat down on the seat but Pele still didn't look away. "I get that you're worried about me but now's really not the time."

Pele laid down in the seat, giving him sad eyes. This ate away at his defensive walls and he quickly said, "I'm gonna start driving, you should hold on."

It felt embarrassing, running away from a conversation with his pokemon but he couldn't let anything more to do with Matthew interfere with his police work. If talking to Pele somehow convinced him to stay, he knew he would go back to causing trouble for this investigation. And while he had tried to force the possibility of Matthew out of his mind, it still rested in a corner, waiting to be triggered again.

He started the engine and took one quick glance at Pele, still giving him that expression. Pele was never one to let up easy over anything, whether that be treats or whatever emotion Brian was going through. He put the gear in reverse and drove out of the parking spot, then started to drive back to the precinct.

By the time they got there, Pele still hadn't eaten his treat.

* * *

Brian opened his fridge, a rush of air, not nearly as cold as it was outside, swept over him. _Alright, Brian. What's your poison for tonight,_ he thought dimly and scanned the interior of the fridge. There were a few different brands of beer, though he figured some had gone bad considering he saved most of his drinking when he was with Derek in pubs.

He didn't like considering himself an alcoholic, it's not like he was one of the drunks lying on the side of the road or slouched in a back alley. He could control what he drank, but he did admit that he allowed himself to drink to the point of being tipsy when he got going.

As a young boy, he couldn't have imagined himself as this man named Brian. His parents drank beer and wine, plenty of it at that, but they never acted drunk. And when he first tasted alcohol at nineteen, he thought it was horrible and was sober for four and a half years before… well, it started tasting good. Then he learned that being drunk didn't always mean you acted drunk, but boy did you feel it.

_I'll go light tonight_ , he thought finally and reached in to pick out an IPA. He closed the fridge, cracked the lid open and brought it to his lips. Bitter, amber liquid spilt into his mouth and down his throat.

He went into the living room, a simple setup with a leather couch, coffee table and a television a fair distance away. Twilight shined through the blinds and bathed the room in a soft glow. Brian sat down on the couch, debated on whether or not to watch any shows, decided against it and kicked up his feet onto the coffee table.

He took another sip, glancing at his phone for the time, 7:14. He wasn't exactly sure what he would do after his drink, going to get another one was an item on his list he didn't want to check off. But it's not like there was anything else to do, everything was said and done for the night so what-

A sudden weight appeared on the couch beside him and he turned towards it. Pele was sitting, giving him that look.

"Come on, Pele, quit it already. It's nothing that won't go away with a day of clearing my head," said Brian, adjusting his legs on the table for comfort.

But Pele wouldn't quit it, "Grrowwow.. Lithe.. Groww.." he growled out as if saying, "It's not nothing, and you're gonna feel bad if you don't tell me or Derek." He was pretty sure he made up the last part up but it did dawn on him that telling Derek about him seeing Matthew would be a one way ticket to more sick days. And while time off from work always came with open arms, the case he had been assigned to today was rather intriguing and he wanted to pursue it further.

Plus, it was the start of the year, there was no way he was going to waste all his sick days in one go.

But that didn't mean he had to tell Pele either, though that was easier said than done. Derek didn't seem to have a sixth sense that told him with absolute certainty that someone was troubled, and if he did, at least he didn't go after them every which way to find out what it was. The only text he received from him read, "Hope you're feelin alright," to which Brian had replied, "A little better, thanks."

"You don't need to worry, Pele. I was on edge during that investigation from drinking too much last night, nothing more."

Pele walked closer and pointed his nose at the bottle in Brian's hand than looked at him dubiously.

"It's light, and I might not even get through all of it. I'm still kinda full from dinner."

That was a bold-faced lie, he had heated up some of the takeout he had found in his fridge. It could hardly be considered filling to anyone with an ounce of common sense, though the taste was at the very least palatable.

"Grroww.. Lithe," said Pele. He didn't need to translate that to know Pele had just said, "Bullshit."

"Fine, but I'm not going to drink another tonight. Don't want to get hungover for my day off tomorrow. And I think I'll give you a nice big walk around the city at that, how does that sound, bud?"

Pele stared at him indifferently.

Brian sighed, "Can't fool you, can I?"

"Grro.." Pele said with a shake of his head.

He took another sip of beer, feeling less and less in the mood for the intoxicating beverage. But then he seemed to be turned off it completely when Pele went forward and started nuzzling into his chest. The Growlithe made himself comfortable than laid down, turning Brian's lap into a bed. The remaining alcohol in his mouth turned terribly bitter but he resisted spitting it out, instead swallowing it.

Pele gave him one final look up before Brian felt himself crack. "Damnit Pele… Fine. Get up for a second, I need to go get something," he said, moving his legs slightly so Pele could get off. Pele obeyed and Brian put the bottle onto the coffee table.

He walked off to his bedroom and looked under his queen-size bed. A messy trove was set in front of him; books, boxes with so many miscellaneous items that he couldn't name half the shit that he pulled out of them, and the occasional sock or pair of boxers that always seemed lost. There was one thing specifically he was looking for in this dumpster of memories, which was probably the only item he knew exactly where to find.

Under a box with a bunch of books he should probably give to goodwill, there was another box with books but these ones he cared about. They were his high school yearbooks. His mother had gotten one each year although he never truly gave them much thought in his adolescence. Now was very different.

He brought it out from under the bed and picked out the one he needed. Goldenrod High School, 2005-2006. Every one of the books had a golden Swellow spreading its wings in glory. While the others still held this image to a fair standard, the one he pulled had seen its use with the gold starting to peel and fade away.

Book under his arm, he walked back to the living room with a light grimace. How could he have let Pele win that one? It wasn't like nothing would stop him from finding out, he might have even given up after a few days if Brian didn't fuck up. He thought about returning the book to its spot but kept walking, getting it off his chest was the healthy thing to do, right? Wasn't that what he always heard? Tell someone and you'll be better off? If there was anytime to believe in it, it might as well be now.

Pele was laying on the couch in the spot he used to be sitting in. His ears perked at Brian's approaching and moved over to the left. Brian sat down where he was before and looked over at his little friend who was giving a hopeful look. He reached over and scratched the top of his head.

"Alright, Pele, you _can't_ tell any of this to Derek. I mean, if you had a way to but you shouldn't anyway," he said. Pele nodded, looking at the book that Brian was holding.

"It's old, I know. But you wanted to know what was bugging me so here ya go."

It had been a while since he had dived into this one. There was this one picture he was looking for, and he knew it had to have been at the start of the year somewhere. He flipped through the pages, each one stylized like a scrapbook with numerous images of students and teachers. The quality of cameras had definitely improved over the years, each photo carried with it its share of fuzz and discoloured look.

_There it is_ , he thought, the page numbers were fifty four and fifty five, depicted the senior soccer team in action. While mostly candid there were a few photos that the players had posed for.

"See this, Pele?" he said, pointing to a photo on the left side of page fifty four. There were two figures prominent, both wearing black and gold jerseys. They had their arms around each other's shoulders in good friendship, shown in the big smile they had. The one on the left had dirty blonde hair, the other had dark brown hair and held two fingers behind the blonde hair's head, giving him bunny ears.

Pele looked at the photo for a moment. He pointed his nose at the one with dark brown hair than pointed up at Brian's face.

He smiled, "Yeah, that's me. Back when I couldn't grow a beard for shit and actually cared about what I put into my body." He rubbed his stubble thoughtfully and took a look down to his gut, it wasn't big or anything but he knew there was more fat than abs down there. "Things change too much sometimes."

Pele pointed to the one next to the young Brian, the one with dirty blonde hair. This time when he looked back up at him, it was with a sadder look, as though he had figured out exactly what was going on. Brian was sometimes amazed at the pokemon's deductive skills, perhaps picked up from the time working together.

"And that…" he paused, feeling a lump appear in his throat. He acknowledged it as such and pressed forward. "...That is Matthew, my best friend. He used to be, at least."

Pele leaned forward and pressed his head against the side of his chest, nuzzling in to try and comfort Brian. He responded in kind, putting the book to the side of him and picking up Pele to place in his lap.

"It was a long time ago, we actually had just finished doing a show with our band and he was walking to a bus stop to get home… And I didn't see him anymore after that," he said in a lower voice. "It seemed the police were useless on the case. Seemingly every morning there was a new bit of evidence found and my hopes grew, and yet they still never found him." He felt Pele nudging against his chest and saw the morosity in his eyes. "I thought it was so fucking unfair, so unfair that I lost my best friend and the police were so incompetent to find him. So I worked hard at school, dropped the soccer team and joined that Code Blue thing that trains you like a police officer. Post-secondary was tough as nails but I managed to graduate with a bachelors in law enforcement." He looked down, seeing that he had been subconsciously petting Pele. "So I got into the force, managed to be promoted to detective and started to work the case, which had been abandoned. You can imagine how that made me feel."

He paused, recalling his first few days as a detective and the amount of emotional whiplash he experienced. Pele's nose pushed against his hand and Brian gave a few scratches underneath his chin. "Every piece of evidence they got led to a dead end, they weren't any closer than they were so long ago." He sighed, putting his arms fully around Pele and pulled him close. "I worked on it anyway. For nearly a year I had so many sleepless nights and actually found a few leads through them but.." He stopped, and thought briefly that he might not finish without crying.

Pele licked his face. "Growwlithe… groww.. Gro.. lithe," he growled softly.

That gave him the courage to keep going, "Soon the leads stopped coming, and I dug so hard to try and find anything but nothing. After a few months, he was officially pronounced dead and then the investigation went cold."

Pele began squirming in his embrace and he looked down to see little bits of wet fur below him. He raised a hand to his eye and found out why, he had started crying anyway. "Sorry, Pele," he said, petting where the wet fur was.

A pair of eyes stared up and the Growlithe gave a small happy bark to try and help Brian. The only thing that he managed to get was a small simper but even that seemed on the edge of turning into a frown.

"He was best friend… he disappeared… and today.." his voice trailed off and he saw the face. "Today I thought I saw him."

He didn't know the reaction Pele would give, he wasn't even sure if he wanted a reaction at all, he had never told anyone this before. Brian stopped his pets and brought Pele out of the hug. There was no solid expression that was on his face but he could pick out the definitive look of sympathy. "Growll.. Groww.."

"I'm okay, Pele… Just.. Heh, imagine that. Imagine Matthew actually being there today, that's a pipe dream and a half," he said, giving a forced smile. Pele leaned in and gave him a lick on the face, allowing the forced smile to turn into a real one.

"Lithe.. Groo.. gro!"

"Yeah, I'm fine… It's been a while since I had thought about it so much." He looked over at the beer bottle longingly, the appeal had definitely returned though it seemed Pele had caught his glance. He nuzzled up to him before his arm had even motioned towards and completely turned him off it again.

"You are really on me about my drinking tonight, buddy." He looked at the bottle one last time and then hugged Pele to his body. He stood up and started walking to his room. It was pretty early for him to hit the sack but he knew he wanted to go to sleep before the urge to drink caught up with him.

He entered his room, and tried his best to avoid the mess he had made while finding the yearbook. He could put the book back in the morning, no worries there. Pele pushed himself out of his arms and landed on the bed, he circled a spot he liked a few times and flopped down.

Brian grinned and went around the side to get in bed. He slid in as far as he could before he bumped into Pele's weight. There was hardly enough time for him to think about taking off his clothes before he fell asleep.

As he closed his eyes he saw Matthew's face once again, this time faded. He ignored it, and while it pained him that he knew this, Matthew was gone and that was final. Nothing could change that.


	5. The Battery

" _Team Saber might have saw me walk into the motel, the Team's got cameras fucking everywhere. They're not gonna attack me now though, they don't want to risk being seen._

" _Although in hindsight I suppose I've been acting like that for quite a while, jumping from city to city, barely peeking my head out of abandoned alleys. I was scared, petrified actually, that they'd be around a corner some day. I didn't even start this whole message thing until a few days ago, so my confidence wasn't exactly sky high._

" _But I'm sick of doing nothing. There has to be something I could do to stop Team Saber, and that's what this recording is all about._

" _I'm not going to sit idly by and teleport away at the first hint of trouble. Not anymore."_

* * *

A clump of cold whiteness smacked against Matthew's cheek and he jerked his head around, trying to find who threw the snowball. Though, he figured that even he did find who the culprit was, there was little he could do regarding the situation. His body was still bound by rope and although Shali's aura bind was no longer attached to him, her father, Tokala, had taken over for her in the morning.

Tokala wasn't the one guarding him however, it was another Lucario who he knew nothing about. Tokala was just binding the aura and occasionally shot Matthew a glare which he returned without a pause.

He had yet to see Shali throughout the day since she left to do whatever but decided to keep her advice close to heart and not attempt any conversation with the other Lucarios. That didn't stop them from throwing snowballs at him, some of which, he was pretty sure, had actual rocks in their cores. They certainly felt like it.

As promised by Shali, the sun had reached its peak in the sky and he had yet to receive even a speck of food from the tribe. Now, his stomach was starting to protest the lack of sustenance, occasionally growling and causing a slight pain to form in his gut.

His guilt had grown from last night's events, he knew Shali wasn't like the rest of them and it was really eating away at him. There had to have been a better way, he had been thinking about the moment Neo had left his mindset until the morning came.

No luck, he had to keep going, despite how much he knew it was wrong.

Neo had disappeared again, which was probably the only thing he was thankful for. He only hoped that he wouldn't come up until he was out of this situation. Though his hopes remained cautiously intact, he was certain he would come up again sooner or later.

Matthew looked up at the sky, between the thick branches he could see a clear sky, one of the first in quite a few days actually. The sun helped warm his system up a lot better than Neo was handling it. He still cringed as clouds occasionally blocked the light out, leaving him with a harrowing sensation.

From the corner of his eye he saw another snowball coming right towards him and tried to move out of the way. But the rope did an impeccable job of restricting his movements and before he knew it, the snowball struck the side of his nose.

He groaned and immediately felt blood beginning to drip down to his lips and onto his shirt. His nose already felt swollen and much too big for his face. Before he could figure why the impact had hurt so much, a light thud was heard at his side. He turned and saw a grey rock, still covered lightly in ice crystals and the new addition of a scarlet splatter of blood. The Lucario guarding him hadn't even batted an eye, in fact, he seemed to be pleased by the bloodshed. He turned his head around and saw a group of Lucarios, laughing cynically. One of them that had inverted colours, a shiny, had another ball in its hand and smiling.

"You know, if you accidentally kill me, Arphal might get pissed at you," Matthew said, ignoring the blood running down his face.

"I'm not planning to, I wouldn't want to ruin this fun we're having," the shiny responded and threw the other ball, most likely containing another stone. Matthew ducked his head to the side and felt the ball fly right by his head, the wind whistling in his ear as it went.

A light sigh of relief had just left his lips when he felt an impact on his head again, a sharp pain pierced through his skull and he began seeing stars. His eyes rolled lazily to one side and he saw a Lucario on the opposite side of him with an arm extended, most likely also part of the shiny's group.

"And I wouldn't want you to ruin it either," the shiny said, picking up another object from the ground. Another rock, this time, he didn't bother with the snow.

"Azen, stop."

Matthew and the shiny, apparently named Azen, turned their attention over to another Lucario brandishing a spear at the shiny.

"What the human says is true, the elder would grow angry if you killed the human before judgment," said Shali indifferently. She lowered her weapon and approached Azen. "You'll get your opportunity to throw your little stones in two days."

Matthew felt a small grin appear on his face from the fact that Shali was actually defending him, and then felt it immediately disappear from the tidal wave of guilt. At this point it had gotten so bad, he felt as though he should have let Azen keep beating him.

Azen's reaction though, was different. Matthew had expected him to be deterred in any way and yet, there was not a hint of that on his face. Quite the opposite, in fact. He smiled, and went face to face with Shali, who didn't falter for a moment. There was an eerie sort of confidence that Matthew could sense within Azen and in a split-second, through the fuzzy agony of his head, he started feeling afraid for Shali.

"No, I don't think I'll have time two days from now," he said, reaching out a hand and attempting to connect with Shali's but failing as she pulled away. He persisted. "Tomorrow, there is a little event scheduled where I will be… professing a certain thing, as I'm sure you're aware," his hand went down and slowly closed around Shali's spear then began making its way up, towards her hand. "And I think that the rest of that day, along with the next, I will be… expressing said thing."

Shali's gaze finally broke with Azen's and he used the opportunity to quickly scale up the spear and connect with her hand, carrying a sick smile as he did so. While she didn't wear it as openly as Matthew would if he was in her position, Matthew could feel the resentment coming off her expression. And as though Azen had acknowledged it, he smiled wider. Now Matthew was not only feeling afraid for her, he was feeling disgust and anger as well.

"So you see," Azen said, picking up another rock and breaking the connection between him and Shali, "I'm getting my worth in now." He drew his arm back for the throw and Matthew braced himself, but it never came. A shocked yelp of pain and the familiar thud of a rock was heard however.

"The elder won't care if you are included or not. So I suggest you back off now," said Shali, her voice slightly shaky but otherwise holding strong. Matthew opened his eyes to see her spear extended towards Azen and Azen holding his hand with a painful look. Blood dripped between his fingers and he stared with anger into Shali's eyes.

"I hope you realize what you just did," he said, beginning to approach Shali with confidence and vexation. Shali raised her spear, halting his progress.

"I do, so back off."

"That spear of yours will be useless tomorrow, you know weapons aren't allowed." In a quick move, he grabbed the spear and jerked it towards him, almost ripping it out of Shali's grasp. "And your fight is much weaker than mine." He jerked the spear again and it slipped another few inches away from Shali. The tip of the weapon was now across his chest, just under the spike that stuck out.

"Hey! Break it up!" said a gruff voice, lined with annoyance. Azen let go of Shali's spear and she herself stood towards the voice, Azen looking as though he gave little care. Matthew turned his head towards the voice, it was Tokala.

"What were you two doing?" he asked, standing in front of the two.

"Nothing, father. We were just messing around," said Shali, her head down and spear at her side.

Tokala looked over at Azen, "And you? Can you agree with what my daughter has said?"

Matthew suddenly felt the ache in his head go away and the swelling of his nose lower slightly. Confused at first, he realized Tokala was distracted by them and wasn't using the aura bind anymore.

"Yeah, I can agree," Azen said, not looking at Tokala.

"Good, I don't want to see you two fighting so close to the blessing tomorrow," he said. His eyes went over to Matthew, "This petty human shouldn't be the cause of any discord among you." Matthew had figured he would have put his aura back on him again but he still felt his healing powers slowly relieving pain.

Tokala walked off and was eventually out of Matthew's sight. He could still feel his powers working, had Tokala forgotten about him? Did he have another chance to escape that didn't involve taking advantage of someone else? It was possible and perhaps if the one guarding him didn't notice, he could teleport back into Goldenrod city. Team Saber would be waiting for him to show up but it wouldn't take much for him to get a new parka and get his energy back.

"Finally that old man is gone," he heard Azen say. There was a sudden yelp and then a quick silence and Matthew was quick to check out what was happening. His eyes widened at the sight and if his anger had spiked before, this time it had fucking exploded.

Shali's spear was on the ground and she had been put into a headlock by Azen, one hand covering her mouth. His face was close to hers and Matthew could see the discomfort in her eyes and the sense of achievement in Azen's.

Maybe it was part of his past that pulled the hair trigger that was wrath or perhaps his general sense of chivalry but he couldn't let this slide. Azen was not going to do this to Shali, there had to be a way,.

There was. But not unlike his plan, he didn't like the direction it took. He would be sacrificing an opportunity to escape and he might dig himself into a deeper hole while doing it.

_Damn it, I can't believe I'm doing this,_ he thought.

"You shouldn't bother struggling, Shali. You're going to have to get used to this real soon," said Azen into her ear quietly.

Shali struggled, managing to knock one of his arms off her head but quickly having her lead off taken down. Muffled sounds came from her head and Azen chuckled at them.

"Just say you want me to let you go. That's all you have to do, Shali. Just say the words, it's not hard."

Again muffled sounds came from her but it only seemed to feed the growing smirk that Azen had.

"Just say it. Come on now, Shali. Or do you enjoy being like this, huh? Is this what you really want when we-" His statement was cut off when a projectile struck him in the head, barely missing Shali as it bounced off and landed on the ground.

Azen lost his grip on Shali and she pushed away from him, almost tripping but holding steady. Azen's group of cronies had backed off from the scene and all were shocked at what happened.

The shiny Lucario had let out a measly yip in surprise but made no other sounds. His head was to the ground and he was staring at the rock that he had been hit with. There was blood on it, his blood. He turned his head to the one he knew had been the one to throw it.

Matthew couldn't wipe the stupid grin off his face. And it was stupid in the sense that it completely gave him away, not that it would have mattered much. Azen knew it was him the moment he turned his way, there was no two ways about it.

"Human," Azen said darkly, giving Matthew a strong glare, "Did you throw that rock at me?"

Matthew gulped but still kept giving off a smile. "Uhh, no. But I have to give credit to whoever did because that was practically spot on to your thick skull," he said, giving a nervous laugh at the end.

Azen took a step towards Matthew and that laugh was very abruptly shut off. "Well that's a shame," he said, halfway to Matthew beginning to give off his own smile. He stopped in front of him. "Guess I'll have to settle for you then."

At the end of his sentence he reared his foot back and shot it right into his gut. Matthew felt all the air in him shoot out and an immeasurable amount of agony set in upon him. He barely had time to make a pained sound before a punch landed on his face, taking away the healing that his powers had done and giving plenty of extra damage.

"C'mon, get over here. The human's asking for it," Azen said to his group who quickly followed him over to the tree where Matthew was tied. He was a sitting duck.

Matthew began feeling his powers start to ease the pain before it was quickly shut off. He tensed, and in the corner of his eye he saw Tokala looking at him, a pleased expression was printed on his face.

_I am so fucked_ , Matthew faintly thought.

A limb smashed against his torso, a fist or a foot, he wasn't sure, it was too fast for him to see. Just as the pain kicked in, he felt another impact on his right arm, then his left, then both his legs got the treatment.

It wasn't long into the beat-down when he was struck in the head again, seeing much bigger stars than he had when he was hit with the rock. Matthew felt himself scream but never heard it, he wasn't even sure if he got it out before a fist smashed into his mouth, chipping several teeth and splitting his lip.

Grey and black were building over the majority of his vision and he was quickly shutting his eyes for longer and longer, it didn't help that one Lucario hit an eye and made it completely swell shut. He couldn't go on for much longer.

_Please let me have made the right choice,_ thought Matthew before he passed out from the pain.

Shali saw the group of Lucarios back away from Matthew and she gulped hard at what she saw. His face was nearly completely red with blood, most of which was still flowing from fresh wounds, one of his arms and one of his legs were bending at odd angles and his eyes were blackened and shut tight.

Azen spoke up, "Alright, let's get out of here. I don't want the elder seeing us like this." He walked off and his group followed, not turning back for Shali. None of them seemed to have been given a second thought.

The Lucario who was guarding Matthew had turned a blind eye to what happened but not a deaf ear, it was telling by his light smirk that he knew exactly what had transpired.

As soon as she saw Azen leave her sight she walked up to Matthew and observed him carefully, she couldn't help feeling a light knot of fear form. But the knot unraveled as she saw light breaths coming from his mouth. To assure herself that he wasn't, in fact, dead, she carefully put two fingers on the nape of his neck and sighed as she felt the faint pulse of a heartbeat.

"What happened here?" a voice said that made Shali stand up straight. She turned to see the elder. But he wasn't speaking to her, only to the guard. "Did you beat him?"

"No, elder. Azen was the one who beat him, he thought the human threw a rock at him," the guard replied.

"And did he?" the elder asked, looking over at the unconscious human, not feeling any pity.

"No," said Shali, making herself known. The elder looked over and she felt her words getting stuck in her throat, never had she lied to the elder before. "Someone else did, none of us saw it coming. We're not sure who did it."

There didn't appear to be any question in the elder's eyes but Shali didn't take the risk of lowering her guard. "Well is he still alive?" the elder asked.

"Yes, apparently. But I doubt he could take another beating like that." Shali kept her steady appearance.

"Well then," the elder said, turning over to the guard, "Make sure no one else comes close. There is still a judgment to be held." He nodded once to the both of them and they bowed back. He went off without a second glance.

The guard resumed his general pose while Shali looked at the human. It was good that he was still alive. Tomorrow had always held a sense of apprehension but after what she saw today, it was all the more reason to push on. There was no backing down now.

* * *

Nightfall was quick to set in due to the shorter days of winter and Shali was standing in front of Matthew once more, guarding and binding him with aura. She had made a reminder to herself to not use as much so she could last longer. So far it had paid off.

She did regular check-ins with the human, making sure his pulse and breath were still there. Azen had done quite a number on him and she couldn't be too careful, there were other Lucarios who faced his anger and had gotten out a lot worse.

Most, if not all, of the Lucarios were asleep by now. She imagined she would be talking to Matthew right now but it still had yet to happen due to his unconsciousness. There had to be something done.

She leaned down in front of the human, the wounds still looking as fresh as they were when he first got them. Her paw found the way over to his shoulder again. The aura healing was not made for physical wounds but it could invigorate the aura to be more active, that was what she really needed right now.

The aura from her began to connect with his, slowly working its way through his body. From her paw's placement, she could feel his pulse quicken and his body made a sudden jolt.

Matthew's eyes opened, well, only one did. The other was still black and firmly swelled shut. "Wh-what happened?"

"You were beat up, pretty badly too," she replied, putting her paw at her side again.

He turned his head both ways, making pained noises at the effort it took him. "Are they gone?"

"They're far from here, you don't have to worry."

He nodded his head and looked down. His eyes set on his twisted limbs as he gave a groan. "Fuck, that hurts… Did they really had to go all out on me? I was tied down for Arceus's sake.."

"Trust me, if they had gone all out, there wouldn't be much of you left. I'm surprised there still is even after that," she said.

He sighed, looking at his broken arm. He attempted to move it and hissed at the sensation. "Gahhh… Hey, Shali?" he asked, ignoring the flare in his arm.

"Yes?"

"Could you… let go of my aura for a little bit? Not long or anything, I… just need to do something."

Shali was suspicious, as she had every right to be, but went against her common sense. Matthew felt the sudden release of aura from his body.

His healing powers were immediately switched on, quickly fixing the several cuts, bruises and scrapes he had acquired. He could feel a series of forced movements in his chest, most likely broken ribs, and felt ease when they stopped in the right place. The same process repeated with his twisted limbs. Then his swollen, black eye, dissipated back into healthy skin and depth perception returned to him. The only thing that he couldn't remove from his face was the dried blood.

He became aware of the stare that was being aimed at him. Shali's eyes were wide with surprise and he couldn't blame her, this wasn't exactly common to see. But he didn't think to much about it, he just felt too damn good that his injuries were gone.

"How are you able to heal so fast?" asked Shali, kneeling down to eye level with him. "Does it relate to your psychic at all?"

Matthew felt himself choke on his own spit and coughed roughly. _How did she know? Oh, shit. She saw me throw that rock, didn't she?_ He cleared his throat and looked at Shali, who appeared a bit worried for him. The guilt spiked again, he forced his eyes away.

"Yes… Yes it is. It's a long story and I really don't feel like telling it right now, okay?" he said, trying to push the matter off as fast he could. He didn't need to meddle in explaining what had happened so long ago when there were more pressing matters at hand. "I bet it seems really weird, seeing a human with white hair and psychic powers?"

"And one that can heal fast too."

He gave a smirk, "Yeah, well just wait until I get hit with a dark type attack, then I'm not healing too well." Shali just stared at him and he made a face, "I guess that wasn't a good joke."

"I didn't realize it was a joke," she said, tilting her head.

_Well if I wasn't funny then, I doubt I'm funny now._ "My bad, I just… kinda wanted to get the conversation away from the… you know what."

She nodded her head and said, "I can understand that. But if I may ask this, why did you stop Azen?" She gave a smile, as though she knew exactly the question she needed to ask.

Matthew nearly choked again but calmed himself. "Well I guess I could ask the same from you," he said in rebuttal.

"I did it because I was worried about you. I didn't want you to get hurt because your a nice person. I know I won't be able to stop your execution but you don't deserve to be beaten up before then," she said in confidence.

He was speechless, and he had no idea how to respond to it. The guilt that he carried on his back suddenly increase in weight. He lowered his head, "You.. uh.. are really blunt, aren't you, Shali?"

"Blunt? What does that mean?"

"You know, saying things without a filter or anything. Sometimes it comes off as a bit too truthful or something"

She tilted her head again and she had an expression that was… sad? That didn't seem right to Matthew. "It was the truth, Matthew. Why did you think I was being… 'blunt'?"

He quickly realized his mistake and allowed the guilt to take him, there wasn't much more of this he could take. She had even used his actual name. "No, no, don't take it the wrong way, please.." Shali lost a bit of her sadness that was replaced by confusion. "It's… been a while since I heard someone say to me that they care for me, I wasn't ready for it, I'm sorry."

She lost the rest of her sadness and ended in indifference. Matthew had no idea what that meant but didn't want to read her mind to find out, he thought it was a rather big breach of privacy.

Shali stood up and walked to the right, eventually leaving his sight. He sighed, he had messed up. He blew his chance but maybe it was for the best? There couldn't be trust broken now, and he could figure out a way to escape without hurting anyone else. Tokala forgot the aura bind before, he might do it again, and this time he would take advantage of it. He would teleport out of here, he would get his energy back, he would-

"Hey."

Matthew turned his head to the right. Shali's hand was extended, holding a couple berries in the palm. They were pink, spherical and had a light dusting of snow on them.

"They're magost berries. You haven't eaten all day so take them," she said, pushing her hand forward.

"No, I'm.. I'm not _that_ hungry, Shali," he said, pushing her hand away without really trying. _Why? Why couldn't she have left? Why couldn't she have not brought the berries? I don't want to break her trust, this isn't fucking right!_ He gave his head a shake, finding a meek smile through it all. "You can eat them, I don't mind."

"Matthew. You need to eat, and you _are_ hungry, your aura says so," she said, pushing her hand forward again. He looked at the berries thoughtfully.

_This is your chance_ , he thought. _This is your chance to cut yourself off with Shali and not break her trust that much. Just reject the food, stop the conversation and let everything else play out as it were. There are other solutions to this that you can follow through with, it's without a doubt trickier than this would be but it would be clean._ He felt his eyes go from the berries to the ground, then back to the berries, then to Shali's face which emanated assurance, then back to the berries. _Make your choice, Matthew. And pray that it's the right one._

His hand raised, then lowered, then quickly shot up and took the berries from Shali's paw. He shoved his palm against his mouth and took in all the berries at once, creating a ring of pinkish red around his lips. _Oh Arceus, these are good_ , he thought impulsively, his mind not quite catching up with his choice.

"Wow, I can't believe you actually took the berries. Hope that was your brain's choice and not your stomach's," a voice said, filling Matthew with dread.

_Fuck off, Neo._

"I just feel I should know where you're taking us with this plan because frankly, it's looking pretty shitty right now," said Neo, walking out from thin air and standing behind Shali, slightly to the left of her.

Matthew gulped the berries down, leaving him with a nice sweet aftertaste and tried to ignore the presence of his twin. "Thanks for the berries, Shali. I guess I did need them."

She actually smiled at that, and for a moment he didn't want her to notice that Neo was being active again. "Your welcome."

He didn't know if he was doing the right thing anymore. He _had_ to follow through with this, didn't he? Tokala forgot the aura, sure, but only once and he wouldn't dare forget again. If Matthew decided to break it off with Shali and go through with that, it would be like taking on a deathly one-sided bet.

"But I wonder if there's another reason, Matthew. Is there another reason you want to continue this whole thing?" said Neo. His voice wasn't malicious or even evil in any way, it was rather strong but thoughtful as well.

There was another reason, but it didn't matter. In the state he was in, incorporating such reasoning as that would be irrational. _I said fuck off, Neo._

"Right, right. I guess you have a long night of building trust, don't ya?" Neo disappeared.

"Why don't you tell me why you saved me from Azen now?" asked Shali. She caught his eyes again, and he felt himself get choked up.

"Ah, right.. Heheh, I almost forgot," he said, wiping the berry juice ring around his mouth with his hand. "I've dealt with those like Azen before and I really don't want anything that happened to me to happen to anyone else."

"When did you deal with those like him?"

"When I was-" he cut himself off. _No, this can't get too personal. I can't open myself up, that only leads to disaster._ "It's… part of that long story I told you about, alright?"

"Okay, then. Is there any other reason?" she asked, giving him eyes that said, 'I know there is, I just want you to say it.'

"I think it goes along the same lines as your reasoning. Well, sans the whole execution part," he said, nearly whispering it. There was hesitation in whether he wanted to answer that way, it came through as somewhat personal.

Shali nodded and sat down, allowing their eye contact to fall in line with one another. There was a sort of freeze in the air, the chill of the night seemed to fade away, the thin moonlight passing through the canopy bathed them in bluish white light. It became evident to Matthew that this was the most calm he had felt in over a decade. No Neo. No powers. No Team Saber. And he sighed, a white cloud of breath blew down to the ground.

"Well thank you for that, having to deal with him is just too much for me," she said. Her smile faltered, only a little, but it was noticeable.

"Yeah, those kinds of people are pretty hard to deal with… I guess you just kinda got to acknowledge that they are who they are and move on, right?" he said, trying to bring her back up although with little success.

She snickered, but it was out of bitterness, "It's pretty hard to move on when they seem to follow you."

"So try running, it'll be pretty hard for them to keep up if your determined enough and-" He stopped talking as he realized Shali's head had drooped down and her spear shook slightly. "Sorry, I… I took it too far, didn't I?" he asked hesitantly.

She shook her head, "No. What you say certainly sounds appealing," she sighed, "but it is against the Aperta tribe's code to run away from the problem, we stay and we hold our ground, no matter the cost."

"And if the cost is too much?"

"Then we fight and last as long as we can," she said, her head coming back up. It bore a rather small simper but it shined very nicely on her.

Matthew shared the expression, "Well, clearly you and I have very different ways of thinking." He adjusted his sitting position, "If I counted the number of times I've run away from anything, I'd be talking all night."

"You didn't run away when Azen was attacking me, did you?" said Shali. There was silence from Matthew, he wasn't thinking of anything to say against that because in a whole, it was true.

"I guess you could say I'm turning over a new leaf, one that's kinda hard for me to turn over but one I'm following through with," he said, rubbing the berry juice ring in an attempt to remove it, although it seemed like it was nearly frozen on.

"Is it because you wanted to turn it over though? Or were you forced to?"

He became perplexed, "What kind of question.." His eyes focused on her aura sensors which were lifted up. _Right. The aura._ he thought. "... Forced. Definitely forced." He tried rubbing off the berry juice again and stopped trying this time, "Give me a second here, Shali…"

Matthew looked up and saw several far up branches coated in snow. He raised a hand toward the canopy, feeling the familiar flow of energy gather through his arm into his hand. Soon, his fingertips were alight with a pink plasmatic energy. Then at once, he pushed it out and it was sent towards the branches. He could feel the snow collecting in the mass of energy and pulled back as soon as he felt the right amount was reached.

The energy returned towards him, like an ebbing tide going back to sea. It carried with it a large ball of snow, much bigger than the ones Azen and his group had thrown at him. It appeared to be the size of a head you would see on a snowman. He dragged the ball closer to him and let it rest just a foot away from his face.

"Your psychic is quite powerful," said Shali, looking quite amused at Matthew's display.

He smiled at the comment. "Thanks, Shali. I'm not done yet though," he said, turning his attention back to the ball.

The energy holding the ball changed colour from a pink to a rich magenta, and it also seemed to flare up more actively than before. The ball, originally white as paper, turned clearer and clearer until it was transparent with only tiny black specks as the impurities. The snow had now turned into water.

But Matthew wasn't finished yet. He continued feeding energy into the water ball until it bubbles began to form and steam came off of the top. He looked at the ball and was quite satisfied with what he had made.

"It almost looks like an aura sphere," she said, reaching out to touch it. Her paw fazed through the energy as if it weren't there and made contact with the water. She attempted to push through but it was though there was a thin film around the water, preventing her access. "What are you planning on doing with it?" she asked.

"First thing," he said, bringing the water ball closer to him, "I need water, and the warmth of it will help my body temperature." He brought the water to his mouth and began drinking out of it. Looking from the outside, it would have appeared that he was sucking air out of a balloon as the ball decreased in volume.

He finished, the ball about half as big as it used to be, only about the size of a small volleyball. "Holy shit, I needed that," he said contentedly.

"Now, to get this berry juice off me." The energy from his hands slowly shifted pushed the sphere into a disk. He put another hand under it as its width became larger than his one hand. Using his hands, he pushed the water disk onto his face and began rubbing it around as though he were using a washcloth. His pores opened up from the warm water making contact, allowing him to absorb more warmth.

Soon thereafter, he removed the water disk. His face was dripping with water but it was clean, not only the berry stain but the solidified blood that remained of his injuries as well. He wiped the water off using his forearm.

"Wait," said Shali, catching his attention and making him nearly breaking the hold on the water.

"What?" he replied, again using the energy to make the water bubble but kept increasing the flow through it and eventually caused all the water to steam off, leaving him with nothing in his palms.

"They're going to notice that there aren't any marks on you."

He nodded, "Well I guess that second use for my water was pretty useless then." His arm went down and grabbed a chunk of cold earth. "Time to get dirty again, I guess."

He rubbed the dirt over his face, it was hard to do due to the frozen nature of the dirt but he managed. When he finished, his face resembled that of a child who imagined that diving into a mud puddle was the best thing in the world. Matthew didn't mind however, if it covered his face, which it sure felt like it did, it was fine. "How do I look?" he asked, grinning.

"Dirty. Very, _very_ dirty," said Shali, giving a grin back. "Wait, you missed a spot…" She took her open paw and dragged it through the soil. She brought it back up and leaned in towards his face.

He instinctively recoiled at the approaching paw but then relaxed as a thought came to him. _Not anyone dangerous_ , _not anyone dangerous, it's only Shali._

Her paw brushed against his lower left cheek and through the light roughness of the dirt, felt a comforting paw that he could feel the urge to lean into. _No, don't let it get too personal, this can't happen, you can't let it get to you._

And just as this became apparent to him, he felt it leave. "There, all covered up," said Shali, leaning back into her position. "I don't think they'll be able to tell now."

"Th-thanks," said Matthew. His mind wandered, and he was unsure about where the direction it was taking. Did Shali genuinely care for him? It was a terribly bittersweet question that he had to come to terms with. If true, then following through with his plan could cause him to lose something he might never regain. He had had that happen to him a few times, it was something he didn't want to repeat.

But if she didn't? Was that even worse? He didn't know. He didn't _want_ to know either.

"You know, you certainly do act different around me than you do with the tribe," he said, trying to get the conversation to change.

She turned to a stoic appearance. "One of the aspects of wearing a mask is that you can always choose who you want to reveal your true self to," she said. Out of the corner of Matthew's eye he saw her grip on the spear tighten, instantly he felt a pit in his stomach.

"A-and you chose t-to reveal yourself to me?" he asked nervously, fixated on the weapon.

The weapon lowered and her expression became less serious, "No. It would be rather silly if I did that to a random human who I was tasked with guarding." She smiled, and that gave Matthew some relief.

"Right, right… Umm… So how about that blessing your father was talking about? What's with that?"

Once again, she became stoic, then it took a few steps forward and became an odd mix of somber and something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Bitterness? It seemed close but it also didn't seem entirely true either.

"You know how you have your long story?"

"Sure, yeah."

"Well I have mine as well."

"And if I told you my story would you tell me yours in return?"

She became thoughtful for a moment then said, "No, I don't think I would. Sorry if you thought so."

"I don't mind. But does it have anything to do with Azen?" He suddenly regretted his decision as Shali showed her pointed teeth through an unsettling growl. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I took it too far again," he said with hitching breaths, unsure of what Shali would do next.

"Yes. Yes, you did take it too far." And at those words he felt his muscles tense. Then her teeth were hidden by her muzzle again and the growl subsided. "But again, you didn't know. I can at least accept that."

He sighed mightily, "I didn't know you hated him that much. I mean, he's a total asshole, no doubt about that, but I guess there's a lot more to your reasoning."

"There is. You haven't been around him for over fifteen season cycles. You don't know what he's done to others."

He felt it was safe to assume that a 'season cycle' was their version of a year. What he didn't feel was safe, was to think about what Azen had done to others. If this is what he, Matthew, looked like after his group beat him up and apparently _didn't_ go all out, then he would have hated to know what happened to those who faced the full wrath of him. "And nobody stops him?"

"He's the strongest fighter here, stronger than the elder even, nobody would dare try to stop him. On top of that, he was born shiny. And considering the rarity of him, he's been treated like a near equal to the elder from some."

"Okay, I can kind of see where this is going. Being treated like this, he must have gotten an over-inflated ego quite quickly."

"Yes, the problem is nobody can cut him down to size because no one is strong enough."

"I bet I could take him on."

She laughed, "Really? Don't misjudge, your psychic and healing is impressive but I don't think it would be enough to take him on."

He smirked, "Come on, don't think just because I'm a human I can't hold my own. Especially with this power."

She simply shrugged. "Perhaps."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about."

"Now that just makes me worry a million times more."

They were smiling for a while and that felt good to Matthew. What didn't feel good was the guilt. The fucking guilt that he was still carrying, that he had the opportunity to leave behind and yet didn't. Why? Because he knew what he did. He let it get personal. He let it get the tiniest bit personal and he was regretting it all the same. He never intended it to go like this but now, the momentum was too fast, too hot. So what now? There was no other way but to break her trust.

"Hey," she said.

"Let me guess, you won't be guarding me tomorrow and I shouldn't talk to whoever's going to, am I right?"

"Yes but there's more," she said, grimacing. "If certain things occur tomorrow, I won't be guarding you that night either."

"Oh, why?" he said with some interest. Inside however, he was freaking out. The entire point of him building trust with her to convince her to release him would be for nothing if he couldn't get to the last step. Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't just ask her now, there was no way she would say yes. Not after just mentioning she wouldn't be here.

"It's part of that long story I told you about," she said with a smile, but it was one without much weight to its purpose. It was missing something and as much as he wanted to, Matthew stayed away from finding out what.

"Okay then, I guess if you're saying that we must be done talking for the night?"

"Yes."

With that, Matthew felt his powers leave him. The aura bind had taken hold and there was most likely nothing he could do now. What was there to do now? All this trust building, all this guilt carrying, it was now nothing. But there was still tomorrow, and if an opportunity arose, he would take it no matter what the cost to him.

"Wow. You fucked up _so_ badly, Matthew. I had no idea you had it in you after that mess up with Team Saber," said Neo, remaining out of sight.

_Shut up. It's not over yet, there is still tomorrow. And I intend to take every opportunity to get out of here._

"I wonder, if you _do_ manage to get out of here, would you really want to leave?"

_What do you even mean?_ He was becoming increasingly disinterested and annoyed by Neo. If there was the one thing he didn't need right now, it would Team Saber first, then Neo right after.

"That reason. That extra reason you didn't decide to tell Shali."

He didn't know how to respond to that, so all he did was say in his head, _Leave, Neo. I'm going to get some sleep._

This time it was Neo who didn't reply, which was not something that eased him into a good sleep. But he managed to after several minutes, his head resting against tree bark.

Shali, however, wouldn't be able to sleep even if she was permitted to. There were far too many things on her mind to even imagine resting. Things had to go very well, nearly perfect, tomorrow or otherwise things looked very dismal for her. But she believed that it would work because at this point, there were very little things she could believe in. Even Sphaera, who had given her family the gift of aura binding, seemed to have turned away.

Turning her head, she saw the human had fallen asleep. She almost instinctively put her paw under his neck to check his pulse again and giggled at her attempt. That laughter faded as she remembered tomorrow.

_Tomorrow_ , she thought, _Tomorrow is when fate is decided._


	6. Freezing Rain

" _I'm so fucking scared, you have no idea."_

" _I'm so scared that I'm going to fuck this up in a way that's out of my control. How's that for how the world falls? One guy simply just couldn't deliver. Oh, now_ _ **that**_ _is a rather distressing thought, like something out of a high stakes summer blockbuster._

" _Anything and everything. That's what I have to do in order to keep going. Even if it's not within my power I have to still try, dammit._

" _I don't think there's anything that'll make me shy away from this, and if there is, well, I'm sure I'll manage. I have to, anyway._

* * *

The guard approached Shali and nodded to her. She looked behind at Matthew one last time before nodding back and handing over the guarding to the other Lucario.

It was morning, the sky was a bright orange with purplish pink clouds that were large in size but didn't appear to be intending to drop any snow today. Shali was thankful for that, there was already so much happening in her day that with one less thing to think about, it made it that much easier for her.

She walked over to the fire pit which currently had little more than a fine ash covering the area. She grabbed some of logs near the pit and threw them into a pile, using her spear to knock some of them more into place. Her hand lit up with aura and she shot it into the pit, causing the logs to catch a blue fire. As she ended her aura use however, it turned to a yellow regular fire.

There were a decent number of Lucario roaming around the main area, a few said hello, others ignored her. Azen, however, was not seen. Regardless, she kept her spear at the ready.

Other Lucarios had weapons that they kept with them, mostly spears or swords. They were occasionally accused of having less fight in them but that was not the truth, being able to learn a weapon to gain advantages among other ways in battle was a strategic decision. The Lucarios who wielded them had no reason to be as strong as any other one of their kind. But as Azen had said the day before, her spear wouldn't help her today.

She was loyal to her tribe. Very loyal, in fact. Whatever policy they ruled fair, she followed it. If there needed something to be done and she had the skills to do it, then why not? She would honour their traditions. She would patrol their borders, take any human or pokemon who crossed them, despite her thinking of whether it was right or wrong, without hesitation. But long ago, she discovered she was loyal to a point, and that point had come up behind her without warning.

The fire had settled down from a roaring flame to a calmer, more balanced one. She sighed, how did it come to this? Why did it have to come to this? Today was something she had been fearing for a very long time, ever since two season cycles ago when the decision was decreed, by her father of all pokemon. There was no say from her when he made the choice, he knew she would never accept.

Her grip tightened on the spear. It had become clear a long time ago that there was a disconnect between her and the one she had known as her father. It was rather ambiguous when it had started but she remembered not being surprised when it became apparent. She had begun thinking in recent times whether there had been a connection at all.

"Shali? You're off guarding, correct?" she heard someone say behind her. It was calm now but she could hear the rough edge of age gritting into it.

"Yes, father," she replied, dipping her head down.

"We need to talk to one another. It may not be something that you want with me but it's something we need," her father, Tokala, said. Shali could sense the light uneasiness and tried to prepare herself for it.

She turned herself around. Tokala's face didn't share the same tone as his voice but she expected nothing less. Especially with the disconnect. She thought about reading his aura but he would know, and the situation they were in would only grow awkward.

"And you decide to talk today? Two whole season cycles and you didn't think to talk to me personally until the last moment?" she questioned.

"I thought to talk plenty, young lady. But would you have talked back?" he said, keeping his voice even and strong.

It was an easy conclusion for Shali to make; No, she wouldn't have. Not with the disconnect. "You didn't even make the attempt at talking to me though, the most you had ever done during this season was acknowledge that I captured that human," she said, trying not to let emotions interfere, that would get her nowhere in this conversation.

"I could sense your aura, there was nothing hostile towards me. However…" he sighed, it was one of disheartedness. "I saw nothing that was very welcoming to me either."

"And I suppose you're surprised by that? So many season cycles have gone by with little more than a nod from you. I hope you aren't surprised that my feelings toward you are not very high."

"I'm not. But now, with today being the blessing, I know I have to talk with you. Whether we like it or not." He put one of his paws on her shoulder and she allowed it without much resistance. Part of her thought she would feel at least a little bit of paternal love but there was none there. No love, no hate, just a paw.

"What is it then?" she asked.

"This blessing… I'm not blind, I'm not deaf nor is my aura skill deficient in any way. I know how you feel about this," he said less strongly than before.

"And you still go through with it despite being aware of my feelings. Do you think lowly of me, father? Are you really willing to let this happen to your own daughter?" she said inquisitively.

"I think of you as well as any of the Lucarios here." At this Shali looked around her assuring herself there was nobody eavesdropping on their conversation. "And as part of the elder's council, my duty is to my tribe first and family second. If they overlap in anyway, you should know which would take priority."

"Did you expect I would do nothing about it? Do nothing and simply give myself up to the cause? Because I wouldn't, _father_ , and you would know if you spent even a single second with me," she said, feeling emotions come through as she emphasized 'father' but was quick to suppress them.

"Watch your mouth, Shali," he said forcefully. Not a tone you would hear from a father but a disciplinary guardian. "What I expect of you is to serve your tribe and do what is best for it."

_Best. How is it possible that we are related by blood and have such different definitions of best?_ she thought. Her fingers tapped endlessly on her spear. "Then humour me, _father_ , I seem to not see how this is going to be the best for the tribe," she said, subconsciously making the emphasis from her previous statement. The word left an almost bitter taste in her mouth and she heard that bitterness come out in her speech.

"Our family has the power to bind aura, a rare ability among our kind. The more of our tribe that has this ability, the stronger we will become."

"But Azen? Of all the Lucarios here you picked him?" She felt more emotions coming through, these ones she couldn't keep down.

"I didn't choose him, _he_ chose you. I accepted it on your behalf," he replied.

Her grip tightened, she was sure she would begin hearing the splintering of wood soon. What her father had said was something she knew was possible but never came to terms with.

There had been a time when she would have been fine with being with Azen. She had seen how strong he was, his shiny fur, how all the females seemed to be attracted to him. Hell, she had found herself attracted as well.

Until he evolved.

There was a weird change in him then, and his bursts of rage against others became prevalent. Even when simply sparring, when an opponent went down to early he would gratuitously kick at their unconscious forms until something else got his attention. Needless to say, her attraction to him had been fairly short lived.

But it still baffled her that her father did not pick up on this. "Is that it then? Am I just your object to toss around and no longer your daughter?"

"You _are_ my daughter and you should be honoured that Azen chose you. A shiny and the strongest one among us all, his offspring would be the strongest our tribe could offer."

"Azen is as malevolent as he is strong and you know that," she said, thinking back to yesterday when he had her in the headlock, whispering things that she may possibly hear later this night.

"You think I'm not aware of this? I've seen what he has done to others but he is a strong fighter. It doesn't change my decision."

"So what would? Perhaps seeing your daughter being abused worse than anyone before him? Would that do it, _father_?"

"Yes, Shali. It would. But that won't happen if you simply follow the path that has been laid out," her father replied, he was beginning to look annoyed with her.

"I am never, by the name of Sphaera, going to follow that path," she said, giving her father eyes that screamed nothing but truth to him.

Her father had jumped the gap from annoyed to angry. His eyebrows came down in a 'v' and the paw on her shoulder was removed quickly and with little regard as she could nearly feel him push her away slightly. "Don't you _dare_ say the name of our guide who gave you your gift in vain!" he hissed.

She looked around again, this time there were definitely pairs of eyes staring into her and her father's argument. Her embarrassment was beginning to rise and she felt hysteria building inside.

"This is going to happen, Shali. For the better future of our tribe, this is going to happen and you won't stop it," he said.

In the back of her mind, the lock that had been keeping the emotions away broke open and she found herself speaking without restraint. "You are a terrible father! If I had the choice between being your daughter and being a slave to a human, I'd throw the pokeball at myself!"

His anger turned to shock. And she knew why, perfectly why. A human who walked into Aperta territory would be executed but if a Lucario who belonged to the Aperta tribe was with a human was seen? It was perhaps the worst disservice she could give to her tribe. And while what she said to her father was clouded by her emotions, she meant every damn word.

Her father leaned in, "I had hoped we could have been on good terms with one another but clearly that isn't going to happen," he said, giving a little show of his teeth.

Shali kept her face steady but after the outburst it had become very hard to do so. Luckily enough, her father stormed off before that happened.

She didn't want to look at all those who saw her argument but she was forced to as her head came up. There were eyes everywhere, all flaring with judgment. Even as they looked away she could feel their judging gazes coming through.

Her eyes settled on Matthew, whose eyes were still closed but she knew. She knew he had heard every single thing that had come out of her mouth. But now was not the time, she needed to sleep and get her energy back. Her eyes were stinging and in her effort to not show tears, she almost didn't care what Matthew had heard.

Almost.

* * *

_Holy shit_ , was the only coherent thought that he managed to get through.

He had woken up when he felt the bind on his powers go from only a slight grip to a near chokehold. But quickly after opening his eyes he saw Tokala walking near him and shut them again.

When they started talking he felt rather uneasy about hearing their conversation but as it escalated he couldn't help but listen in. And he finally learned why she wouldn't be there that night.

A blessing. Tokala had said something about it the day before but he never really understood it. However, hearing the conversation now, he definitely could figure out what it was and he did not like the way it was pictured for him.

He assumed it was like marriage, but the way it was described to him it appeared to be very one-sided. Shali definitely wasn't a fan of it and he couldn't blame her if Azen was involved in any way. But then he heard that sudden outburst and he was shook.

Needless to say, he hadn't expected Shali to yell so loudly and flinched as she did that. Then there was silence and he had never been so uncomfortable.

He heard steps go by his location and after he felt as though he was safe. That was when the flood of thoughts hit and his eyes eventually opened.

Lucarios were all around the area where, thankfully, the fire was lit up once again and he felt the tiniest bit warmer on top of Neo's heating. He knew it would not last long after this, however. The amount of energy Neo had was not infinite, and combined with the fact he had to push the energy through the aura bind they were in, they would most likely last until tomorrow with what they had.

_How convenient, just in time for the judgment._ _I guess you'll get that execution you wanted, Tokala._ There was still time to formulate a plan but he was having trouble catching inspiration. The hope that Tokala might forget was still alive. If the blessing really was today, he just might have a lapse in remembrance.

It should have been just a straight forward call; wait until he drops the hold and poof, you're gone! Though what kept him from just keeping that mindset wasn't the possibility of being seen, it wasn't the possibility of hurting others to get out of his situation, it wasn't even the fact that Tokala might not forget at all.

It was Shali.

He knew that today might be the last chance he gets at leaving this place and he was going to take that opportunity but damn it, he didn't want Shali to go down this path. He had turned his back so many times when he could help and he wanted to stop that. Not only that but Shali had been the first one he had a real conversation with in almost thirteen years. Could she even be considered a possible friend? Maybe, maybe not. But if that wasn't worth a reason to help, then what was?

But what could he do? He was near certain that when, and if, Tokala forgets the aura bind, and he goes over and simply steals Shali away, it would not go over well. But doing nothing would be just as bad, if not worse.

_Fine,_ he thought, looking at the flickering fire. _If I can do anything to prevent her going down that path, I'll do it. But if it means that I'd get executed, then… yeah, I'd have to let it happen. I don't want to, by any means, but Team Saber is more important than just one Lucario._

And still, as a pocket of moisture in a piece of wood exploded, sending sparks into the air, he doubted his thoughts. Was he wrong in thinking that way? Did he really want to know?

He decided on a tentative No for both questions.

* * *

The next few hours were fairly uneventful for Matthew but he could sense the tiny amount of tensity in the air and it was nearly driving him mad. Shali had yet to have been seen, at least by his eyes. Azen finally showed himself in the main area, giving Matthew a narrowed glare with a cynic's smile. He didn't return the look, not risking getting more injuries, all he did was be thankful that the dirt had done its job of covering his healed face.

Tokala was still in the main area, however. While he wasn't looking directly at him, the aura bind remained strong. This still didn't diminish his hope of forgetting but he hated to admit that it looked just a bit dimmer than it usually was.

He could remember a similar situation to this. Ten years ago, he was still in the Deity Lab, still controlled by Team Saber. And the year before, around July from what he could hear from the scientists, there was a thunderstorm that had briefly disabled his psychic inhibitor. He had felt the spark and the freedom that followed. They, the scientists, were quick to sedate him and held him in a state of catatonia for three days to make sure all was in order.

He and Neo were prepared, this was a time when they would work together without question. They would wait until the next thunderstorm came, and during that brief time of freedom they would rip the inhibitor chip out and escape.

It had come, and when he felt that freedom he used all his psychic to rip it out.

But nothing happened, he tried hard but nothing happened. He was about to ask Neo why it wasn't happening, he felt a dart go into his neck and he collapsed.

When he did finally break out of there and ripped the chip out, he discovered it was lined with rubber. It was only giving the electricity one route to go along and making it near impossible for any outside electric current to come in.

Team Saber had learned from their mistakes and never made the same one twice.

This is what he feared with Tokala, that he wouldn't forget. And that instead of playing luck, he would have to use other means of getting out.

Unfortunately, using the same way he managed to escape Team Saber was currently impossible for him to do. For more than just he simply couldn't with the aura bind in place. He did _not_ want a repeat of his escape from the Deity Lab, not again.

Then there was still the subject of aiding Shali. But that just added so many more variables into the equation that he had to figure out. Would it be worth it? _Yes. It's worth it. Unless I'll be executed for it, that's a big no in the books._

All of the Lucarios suddenly turned towards something. Interested, he followed their example and looked over. Arphal was walking through the main area, gaining the attention of all he passed.

He paused just in front of the fire and all those around had their eyes locked on him.

"Everyone," he announced, looking around to assure that he had all of their attention, "the time has come for the blessing."

There were many murmurs among the Lucarios and several exchanged glances with each other. Among them was Tokala, who seemed just the slightest bit more perturbed than any of his tribemates. Azen had a smile, not an evil one but rather one that showed pride and smugness.

"This day brings us the blessing of Azen and Shali, please step forward you two," said Arphal, giving a look over to Azen who stepped forward. He then let his eyes wander, searching for the second name he had called.

Shali was nowhere to be seen and when Tokala had called his daughter's name, he tensed. Matthew wondered, could Shali have just abandoned the tribe all together? He didn't think it was impossible for it to happen, and if she indeed did, then Shali would be safe and he didn't have to worry about aiding her during his escape.

Only she came out, not five seconds after Arphal had last spoken.

"Here, elder. I'm right here." She stepped out from wherever she was and into the main area. Her right paw, which usually held a spear, now lacked one. It was very odd seeing her like this, she nearly blended in with all the rest of the Lucarios. Tokala's expression eased as she came out.

However, she had the face of someone you might see on death row; distant eyes, dipped head and a mouth which made the least amount of effort to undulate words.

"Ah, very good," said Arphal, turning himself back to the majority of the onlookers. "These two Lucarios, proud and loyal members of our tribe, shall be joined together by the blessing of Sphaera and become mates for the remainder of their lives."

Azen looked around at the crowd, smiling his smile. Shali remained motionless and calm.

"As per usual, the blessing is not complete until a spar between the two soon-to-be-blessed is performed. No weapons are to be permitted to insure the purity of the spar," he said. He looked over at Shali, "I appreciate that you have preemptively put away your spear."

"It was no problem, elder," she said, keeping her head down.

Nodding, he continued, "With any blessing, if both Lucarios are willing to one another, the spar is unneeded but should the opposite be true, the winner shall decide whether or not the blessing goes forth."

"She isn't willing elder, I'm aware of that," said Azen, giving a mocking look to Shali.

"Shali, is this true?" asked Arphal.

"Yes, I'm not willing," she replied shortly. Her fists clenched ceaselessly, as though squeezing an imaginary stress ball.

"Well then, the spar shall be underway shortly. Unless…" Arphal waited for the little whispers to stop before continuing. "Unless one of these Lucarios chooses to have another fighter represent them in the spar. And if this is to be done, you must speak now."

And when Shali managed to tilt her head up and turn it towards Matthew's direction, he knew exactly what she was going to say next.

"Him. I choose the human."

An uproar came up among all the tribe, the Lucarios shouting all sorts of negativity into the cold air. Shali received probably around the same amount of comments as Matthew did himself. All the hate targeting the two of them. Tokala, who had remained calm save for when Shali was slightly late, appeared horrified. Arphal had simple interest on his face, not really following along with the crowd. But Azen, he stopped his mocking smile and replaced it with one that showed pure triumph.

"Settle down!" Arphal announced and instantly the insults were cut off. Though the silence spoke plenty loud enough for him to hear. "Shali has made her decision and we will abide by it."

"A human can't fight in this! Not for something as important as a blessing!" a Lucario within the crowd said. There were many voices who yelled out in support of this.

"There is no law amongst our tribe that suggests this, Rowta. And if you would like to go against Azen for this fight then by all means, go for it," Arphal replied calmly. The Lucario had no response to this but sunk back into the crowd. "You, human."

Matthew looked at him, who didn't seem to have any hate stemming from his conscious. "Yes?"

"Do you accept Shali's proposal?"

He looked over at Shali, her eyes didn't meet his own. This was certainly the solution he was looking for. It gave him a possible way out of captivity, it got Shali out of her own situation and neither of them had to die for it. He was certain he could defeat Azen, there had been much tougher opponents in the Deity Lab. It all seemed perfect. He had no reason to say no.

So why did something feel off?

"Human? Your answer?"

Matthew saw Shali finally turned her eyes towards him. He recognized the look immediately, it was one he had given to all the scientists who dragged him from room to room, torture to torture. It was one that screamed, 'Please don't let this happen to me.' For the first time in his life, Matthew was on the other side of this expression. And the thing that felt off simply faded away.

"I accept."

There was another uproar, even louder than the last one and Arphal was quick to shut it down. Though it took a bit more than an instant for it to occur. "Dahinda, get the rope off the human. Tokala, release your aura bind on him as well."

"Elder, this is absurd!" said Tokala. Matthew suddenly felt the aura bind tighten on his body, making him completely immobile.

"It was you who asked this blessing to be arranged, was it not, Tokala?" said Arphal.

"Yes, it was but-"

"You are fully aware of our laws regarding the blessing as well, correct?"

"I-I am.."

"Then I don't believe there is any reason to delay it further. Now, release your aura."

Tokala doubled down, "Do you not remember that this human has _two_ auras residing in his body?"

"I remember well. But his judgment has very little to do with this blessing, Tokala," said Arphal, giving a firm glare that Tokala turned away from.

_Arphal, you have no idea how much the judgment has to do with this,_ thought Matthew.

"My decision is final. Release him."

He felt the aura on his body strengthen, hesitate and disappear entirely. Warmth flooded his system as his psychic returned.

"I have to say, this is getting extremely interesting," said Neo, speaking out.

_How about you talk to me later, Neo. You aren't needed right now._ Matthew thought. He was going to do this, this would be his way of helping Shali and after he could potentially get out!

"Fine, fine. I just hope you know what'll happen if Azen gets the better of you."

He knew, he knew plenty well.

The guard, Dahinda, went behind the tree Matthew was tied to and undid the knot. The rope fell limply onto Matthew's lap and he was filled with the sense of freedom. But it wasn't a complete freedom, he still had to earn it.

"Come over here, human," said Arphal, beckoning him with a paw.

He slowly got up, feeling his legs awaken after nearly two days of no use. He used a very small bit of psychic to aid his mobility, he would need to save the rest for his fight with Azen.

As he walked, the many judgmental looks he was receiving made him feel like a defendant that was so clearly guilty there was no need for a trial. _Don't worry everyone, I'll be out of your way. Hopefully sooner than later if all goes well. And if it doesn't go well… then it'll definitely be sooner._

He reached Arphal, his eyes were not full of malice as everyone else's were. His smile was gentle, non-violent. "Azen, you as well. Shali, you are free to come if you choose."

Azen began walking up. Shali did not.

"I wish the two of you a fair and honest fight. Please take your sides and I will announce when it begins," said Arphal. Azen bowed in what seemed like respect. Not wanting to anger the crowd further, Matthew bowed as well.

They turned their backs and walked to opposite sides of the main area. As Matthew passed Shali, she put a paw on his shoulder. "You said you could take him. If you can, do it now, please. I trust you."

She turned around and merged into the crowd, though several Lucarios were giving her looks of disdain.

Overhead, the clouds had turned a deep grey, ready to precipitate.

Matthew exhaled, calming himself. He was ready, and this wouldn't be hard, right? He couldn't openly use his psychic powers, that would get him into deeper shit than he was already in, but he figured focusing just a bit of psychic energy, not enough to be visible, into his fists should be enough. Azen was a Lucario, and Lucarios were weak to psychic attacks.

_Relax, Matthew. Relax. You've taken down Garchomps, Aggrons, Beartics and Steelixes, this can't be any harder than those._ He looked at azen, his pose was lax. Matthew felt unease creeping on his back.

"Fighters, prepare yourself!" said Arphal. Matthew assumed a standard fighting stance, keeping his fists up near his face. Azen remained lax, but stared deep into Matthew.

"Begin!"

Both began to close in on one another. Matthew kept the defensive but Azen was wide open, practically begging for someone to attack.

Matthew didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit. There was definitely something off here, something he didn't know of yet. But the way that Azen was going into this, he seemed almost too confident. Sure, Matthew was a human to Azen but was there something more?

"Tell you what, human," said Azen, getting within a few meters of Matthew. "If you give the fight to me, right now, I'll give you my mercy and knock you out with one punch," he grinned, "So how about it?"

"No. That isn't gonna happen, Azen," he replied, less than a meter away. He pulled back his fist, let the psychic energy flow into it and thrusted forward, connecting with Azen's chest.

He barely flinched.

Matthew stared at his fist, it was shallowly buried in shiny Lucario fur. He felt shock, it should have worked. Azen couldn't be that powerful, could he?

Then he felt his knuckles began to sting and realized with horror that he managed to injure himself more than his opponent.

"No deal? That's fine, I kinda wanted it this way." Azen barely moved his fist back before throwing a punch, catching Matthew right in the gut.

He tried using his psychic to slow the punch down just so he could ease the pain a little bit. But it didn't seem to be enough as he doubled over, letting his fist drop.

There was no recovery for him then, Azen was quick to land a blow on his left shoulder, nearly dislocating it. _He's holding back, he wants to enjoy this_ , thought Matthew. But he had to hold on, he was still good to go and could still win for Shali.

Azen landed another hit on his upper chest, and Matthew flew back, landing hard. He tasted iron but tried to stay strong, his healing powers would give him a little boost. _What, Neo? Not gonna comment on how fucked this situation became?_

Apparently not, and that made Matthew feel off again.

"Come on, human! Get up and fight! You made a commitment to this fight so you better damn well keep it!" said Azen, somewhat angrily.

Matthew kept waiting for the healing to take effect but still nothing. _What the hell?_ He pushed the thought aside and turned over, allowing him to use his arms and legs to push himself up.

"Don't worry…" he spat out blood, "... I'm not done yet."

"Good." Azen was quick to approach and let another punch loose. On instinct, Matthew strafed to the left and managed to just miss him. He felt an ache in his core, Azen may have been holding back but it was still hurting like hell.

And still his healing power wasn't working, any other time and he would have been good as gold by now. It didn't even seem like his psychic was acting right.

The shiny Lucario's hand suddenly glowed white and shot towards him. Matthew should have been to dodge just in time but he felt himself locked in place as the contact shot him back a good distance away, causing him to somersault backwards over and over until he came to a stop. He recognized the move, force palm, and boy did he wish he was on the sending end.

Why? Why hadn't he been able to move? He certainly didn't feel like a Deerling in headlights when Azen prepared his move, so why couldn't he? And why hasn't his healing power activating right now?

Something was wrong, very very wrong.

He put a palm to the frozen ground and suddenly shivered but that couldn't have been right. His psychic was on the fritz, no doubt about that, but it wasn't like it was broken or anything. At any moment Matthew thought he would see Neo pop up and give him a lowdown of how everything was messing up. But it was yet to be seen. The way he hardly seemed to be able to do anything, it was like his aura was binded again.

Wait.

He moved his eyes from the sky they were fixated on and saw the crowd of Lucarios. They weren't looking at him, it was Azen who they were cheering on and encouraging. He scanned the crowd slowly, looking for one particular Lucario. As he did so, his eyes passed Shali who appeared short of breath. _This isn't going to end this way, Shali. I've got plenty of life left in me._

Then he found who he was looking for, a Lucario with a red crescent on his head, mirrored just slightly below it and a dot between them. This Lucario had his aura sensors raised. _Tokala._

Matthew once again pushed himself over and could feel his strength lessen with every passing moment. No, he wouldn't be able to keep going. Not with the aura bind in place. There had to be a way out of this, right?

He got his palms on the ground and pushed upward. Once he managed to stand up again, Azen looked almost bored. "You know, I thought when you accepted that you were hiding some kind of trick or something with that second aura of yours. But now you're even more pathetic than any opponent I've faced. I'm kinda disappointed."

Matthew coughed, tasting more iron, and spat again. "I… am… not… done!" he yelled, gasping between words. He knew complaining of the aura bind would be useless, Tokala could just force his mouth shut before he could get the first syllables out.

"No, you are."

Matthew threw a punch, trying to get it boosted by his psychic but could not. It even seemed more sluggish than his first one, what with his injuries and the aura bind. Azen easily avoided it. He threw another, and achieved the same results only when Azen avoided it, he swung a paw down.

And the spike on his backhand stabbed through Matthew's own.

He yelled in pain, seeing the blood spill out over his forearm. The spike had stabbed fully through his palm. He began frantically attempting to pull it out but just as it seemed to come loose, Azen twisted his arm back. Suddenly his back was away from Azen, and his fear skyrocketed.

Matthew swung his arm back in a desperate attempt to knock Azen off. _I can't let this happen, I have to get my healing power back soon. There's too much blood coming out of my wrist, I'm already feeling lightheaded._

"Human, you've lost. Accept it," said Azen, and with one swift motion sent his other hand spike into Matthew's undamaged one, stopping its flailing motion.

His agonized scream was cut short as the Lucario suddenly jerked Matthew by his stabbed limbs back into him. Into his large chest spike.

He had been stabbed in the torso before, it was by a Sandslash's claw and even then it barely made it an inch into him. This made that claw feel like a toothpick. It drove itself far into his back, barely missing his spine and mere millimeters from puncturing his organs. He tried to scream but found he couldn't, only managing to get a pitiful squeak. His eyes faded in and out of darkness.

"Are you done?" he heard Azen whisper, his hot breath on his ear.

Matthew tried to shake his head, _I'm not done. I can't be done. I have to get this aura bind off me._ He hacked up some more blood and felt his vision dim, the wound on his back was large but the spike largely stopped the blood from escaping it.

He looked at the crowd, many were cheering the fight on, however Matthew could not hear them very well. Shali was the only one who was not, she was standing there, mortified, with wide eyes. With every bit of strength he had left in him, he motioned his head to the right in a directional motion, towards Tokala. He could only hope that he caught her attention.

His sight fell a darker grey but he fought on. There was still a chance, he could turn this fight around. His sight fell darker. If Shali noticed what Tokala was doing, which he was certain she would, then his chance would open. His sight fell black, his body, limp.

And suddenly his eyes were open again, the psychic energy flowing through him and his healing power repairing all the damage that had been done. He looked at Shali, her gaze focused on Tokala, who looked stunned.

"You're lucky she got that aura bind down when she did, I was getting all riled up to take over," said Neo, not in view but very much present.

_Oh shush already, you ethereal bastard._ Thought Matthew, becoming more buoyant as he felt less and less pain.

"I'll tell you what I'm done with Azen…" he pulled his right hand away from the shiny Lucario. Azen pulled back but with the added strength of his psychic, he eventually lost the struggle. The spike came out of the hand, splattering blood onto the frozen ground. "I'm done with you and this fight!"

He yanked the other spike out of his remaining hand and kicked Azen back and dislodged his chest spike. He felt a great sense of release flow into him and felt the wounds slowly close. _Can't let them close all the way, they'll notice and I'll be done for._

Matthew turned around and faced Azen who gained his grin back. "Hmm, you might just be more fun than I thought. Don't disappoint me."

Azen fists glowed white again and this time Matthew would be ready for them. As one came down, he quickly moved to avoid it and caught the other one in his hand, being pushed back as he did so.

_Alright you son of a bitch, my turn._ Now, with the psychic actually working, he sent a punch towards him. Azen, unprepared for the human's strength, stumbled before getting on his feet again.

Matthew moved in, finally taking an affirming offensive to the fight. He sent punches in Azen's direction but the Lucario was fast, very fast, and he couldn't keep up with the movements.

Azen kicked at Matthew's legs and he had quickly used his psychic to slow the blow down. He felt it sting but ignored it and used the opening to land another punch, putting just the slightest bit more psychic into it. Azen caught it and fired a force palm into his gut.

It hurt, but thankfully not as much as the first time. Matthew retained his position, hissing through the pain and punched Azen in the head.

The shiny stumbled, tripped, and landed on his behind. The crowd who had been cheering so incessantly suddenly stopped.

"Alright… are you going to submit?" asked Matthew, breathing heavy, trying to resist the urge to allow his healing power to sew all the holes that were still very present on his body.

"Heheheh…" Azen stood up, his fur slightly displaced in the spot Matthew had hit him. "You know, that was a decent fight, finally someone manages to be a little competent against me." Matthew prepared himself but didn't expect Azen to suddenly sprint over to his position, faster than he could see and grabbed his arm. "But I got better things to do now."

Azen swiftly twisted his arm and flung Matthew to the ground. In an instant Azen was on top of him, preventing him from moving. He raised one hand and formed a shimmering bright blue ball; an aura sphere.

At the moment of release, Matthew moved his head ever so slightly to the left, feeling the blast whistle by his ear. The explosion was louder, causing tinnitus to set in. Little pieces of frozen ground peppered his cheek.

_Shit, that was close._ With a dusty cloud settling in around them, Matthew threw a punch in a random direction, trying to aim at Azen. He felt it connect and the weight of his adversary was off.

He scrambled to stand and touched a hand to his ear, the flesh was raw, burned from the aura sphere, but it all still seemed to be there.

The dust settled and he suddenly felt chilled, not that his psychic wasn't working again but Azen had gained that evil glint in his eye. The one he saw yesterday.

"You will regret that," he simply said, and Matthew very much believed every word.

With speed, Azen launched himself at Matthew, fists flying at all sorts of angles that he couldn't keep up with. When they began hitting, Matthew realized he was in a storm of close combat. Various blows struck his chest, arms and legs, making bruises wherever they landed.

The storm eventually stopped, but then Azen's full arm turned white and shot upwards. Matthew had no time to react. He got hit with the full force of a sky uppercut.

He had no idea how long his airtime was, but he felt it was enough to garner at least an eight or a nine if he was being judged on it. Moments before he hit the ground, he used the psychic to slow his momentum, if only just a little bit.

But it still hurt _a lot_. All the air was once again out of his system and the place he had been struck in the jaw felt almost slack with a dull throb ceaselessly pounding in his head. It was as though he had gotten a tooth removed and the novocaine was just now wearing off. The problem being that it wasn't novocaine, it was shock, and it wasn't a tooth removed, he was pretty sure that his jaw was broken.

The throb eventually stopped and there was light relief as his jaw fixed itself. There was more to consider, however. That blow was powerful, and Matthew was sure that Azen could dish out a few more of those. If one made him unconscious, then the fight would be over. He had to end this.

He dug his hands into the ground for the umpteenth time and stood up, breathing slowly and deeply. His jaw still ached plenty but it at least wasn't broken anymore.

Azen, no longer grinning, but instead barring his teeth and letting a growl slip through, said, "Why aren't you finished already?! No human could possibly keep going this long!" His eyes reflected hate and rage.

And for the first time in the fight, it was Matthew's turn to smile, albeit rather tiredly. "I guess… I'm just a... stubborn… son of a bitch… right?"

Azen charged forward, both fists glowing brighter than they had ever been before. His speed was fast and just as he was about to make contact, Matthew planted a hit, using as much psychic energy as he could without it being visible. Azen's momentum halted, completely stopped by the blow. And Matthew kept going, swinging punch after punch after punch into the Lucario.

He couldn't stop himself, every hit fueled him for more. His hands hurt, the wounds were still not sealed, his back was killing him and he felt rather faint in the head from the blood loss, but he kept going.

Then, as a final hit, he mirrored Azen's sky uppercut with one of his own. The Lucario's legs left the ground but came back after only a few moments. He was motionless. Breathing, but nothing more. Matthew stayed on guard, waiting for Azen to stand up suddenly beat the living shit out of him. It did not come.

The eerie quietude that followed was one that became stagnant quickly. No cheering, nor booing, for that matter. The sound of Matthew's own breath seemed rather far away to him.

The clouds with their pregnant, dark grey bottoms passed, letting a bit of sunlight through.

"A well fought fight. I was thoroughly impressed," said Arphal.

He turned around, the elder Lucario appeared content, unlike all those around him. What was going to happen next? Were they going to execute him now? That's what Arphal said he would do if he saw Matthew injuring another tribe member. So what-

"Let us proceed with the blessing. Shali, please come up," he said.

Shali came, and within moments was to the left of Matthew. Her face was more eased, relief prominent in her features. _Yeah, you and me both, Shali._ thought Matthew, letting his wounds close just a bit more.

"Human, please raise your right hand. Shali, please raise your right hand," said Arphal, looking thoughtfully at the pair.

They did as they were told, Shali because she was loyal to the tribe and Matthew because he was still hesitant of what would happen next. The way Arphal had instructed them made that off feeling come back again with thrice the amount of impact.

"Now bring your hands together, finger to finger, palm to palm."

They did so, and Shali began sharing the same level of 'off' that Matthew had. But in a way that she knew the situation in a deeper way.

"Umm, what is happening?" asked Matthew, being cautious on the way his tone sounded.

Arphal looked at him without changing his expression. "I believe I said so already, human. The blessing is proceeding commonly as any of our other blessings. You chose to represent Shali in the fight and there you are to take the place of the one she is blessed with."

"What?" Matthew suddenly became short of breath. He did not sign up for this, he only fought Azen to help Shali out, not to be blessed with her. This wasn't part of the deal, Arphal never said any of this before. "This can't be right, I'm a human. There's no way we could be… uhh.. 'blessed' together."

Arphal sighed, "Must I repeat myself for the third time today? There are no laws we have established that negates this, I'm sure you can understand that this has not happened before considering our policy toward your kind."

Ah yes, that was right. Immediate execution.

"However, if, for whatever reason, you deny this blessing, then Azen will automatically be the one who is blessed to Shali."

That turned his mindset around, he promised to help Shali and that's what he had to do. But a blessing? He wasn't sure how high of a regard these blessings took in the tribe but considering everyone including the elder turned out, he had a decent understanding. Team Saber was always his main focus, could this have a negative impact on it, if any impact at all?

_I mean, I suppose I could… No. No, I made a promise to myself and I'm keeping it, but I have to keep Team Saber in mind. Anything to do with this that hinders my progress in stopping them, I'll have to call it off._ Matthew sighed, "I… I understand, and I still accept." He waited for the hate from the crowd to come, it didn't.

"Then we shall continue." Arphal closed his eyes and raised his aura sensors. Both his arms were suddenly enveloped in blue flames which Matthew assumed were aura. Arphal clasped both his hands around the connecting hands Matthew and Shali had. The flames were warm and licked against his skin but ultimately didn't injure him, it felt rather weird. "Please repeat after me."

"I promise to respect and care for my mate."

They replied, almost in unison, "I promise to respect and care for my mate." At the word 'mate', Matthew found an odd feeling rising in him. One called 'regret'.

"I promise to fight and protect my mate."

"I promise to fight and protect my mate." This couldn't have been a mistake right? He had fulfilled his promise and he wasn't getting executed for it. Sure he needed to go through a blessing but mates? Matthew knew enough to know that mates were a little more than just friends.

"I promise to live and thrive with my mate."

"I promise to live and thrive with my mate." This time their unison was rather delayed. Matthew didn't want to get himself into this type of situation, this was way too much too fast. But he had to, right? He had to help Shali, that's what his promise entailed.

"And I promise to hold my aura with an open palm to my mate, so that the energy may flow between us."

"And I promise to hold my aura with an open palm to my mate, so that the energy may flow between us." The delay was still present, this time going on just a bit longer. _This… I don't know… can I really do this?_

"No idea, but I'm getting a hell of a kick out of this, Matthew," said Neo, speaking up and appearing right beside him. Shali's eyes narrowed and Arphal's turned so little to convey the message of apathy.

"Then, with the power vested in me by Sphaera, I bless you for now and the rest of your lives." Suddenly, the flames that had engulfed their hands became searing hot, then they were gone.

Arphal took his hands off and Matthew saw there was a mark on the back of his hand. It was the symbol of the Aperta tribe, two crescent shapes mirroring one another with a dot in the center. He could only assume that Shali shared the same mark. And seeing it now, somehow burned into the skin, his healing power not even trying to erase it, all he could think was: _I made a mistake._

* * *

Shali looked at the mark on her hand and thought, _Finally. Finally, Azen will no longer be a part of my life._

Their hands disconnected and they both looked at the elder. She knew what would come next, she had already accepted it as her future. But it would be a better future than the one that her father planned out.

"Shali, I'm afraid there is another aspect we must discuss," said the elder.

"I understand."

"For being bonded to a human, you have violated our oldest policy and must be subjected to the consequences."

She nodded. _Here it comes, here's what you wanted to happen, Shali._ she thought.

"From this day to the end of days, you are exiled from the Aperta tribe and are to never return. Please leave as soon as possible."

There it was, the thing she had feared and prayed for since the day she had been said to be blessed with Azen. Exile. The only thing that had stopped her had been her unwavering loyalty to the tribe, but now she wasn't part of the tribe. Not anymore.

She turned her head to the left, most of the Lucarios had left but Tokala was still there. His face expressed disappointment and betrayal twisted into some malignant conglomerate. She could almost hear him say, "You are no longer my daughter. In response, she gave him a look, one that read, "No, I never was. Nor were you ever my father.

At that, he finally left; disappearing in between the trees.

She turned back to Matthew. She would have to explain herself to him, that was certain, then they would hopefully be better off. Perhaps it was wrong for her to keep him in the dark for so long, but she had to, and she would explain that too. She opened her mouth.

And then closed it.

Matthew was gone.

From above, there was a low rumble and she felt something wet but somewhat solid strike her head. She looked up. The clouds covered the sky and precipitating. Not snow but rain. Though at this temperature, it was classified as freezing rain. It had occurred before, various broken large branches had seriously injured many tribe members. It didn't take a genius to know that freezing rain was one of the worst outcomes for precipitation.

Shali began running.


	7. Sonder

" _I'm an experiment from Team Saber but I don't think I was the only one._

" _They called me NH-3, so there might have been more before. Hopefully they still don't have them in a different lab somewhere._

" _I was part of a series of experiments they called, The Neo-Human Project._

" _What does that make me? Well, according to their naming of me, I'm the third Neo-human to ever walk the earth. And hopefully, I'm the last._

" _This is what this message is about. The Neo-Human project is their highway to world domination. But, if this message goes through, we might have a chance. I'm not risking anything, this is between life and death."_

* * *

Matthew was also running.

He had no idea of the direction he was going however and was almost certain that he was lost. His only intention was to get as far away from the Aperta tribe as he could. If he ran into another tribe, he could use his psychic, but he might not be able to. There was a reason why he was running and hadn't teleported out. The fight had taken a great deal of strength out of him, and he still needed to get warm!

And Neo wasn't exactly helping either.

"Well good job back there. Against Azen, I mean, not the whole leaving Shali thing and going back on what you said about not breaking trust," he said, appearing to float alongside Matthew as he tore through the forest.

_Just shut the fuck up, just shut the fuck up, I don't need this, not now._ He continued running, feeling the snow crunch against his boots. He held up an arm to protect himself from the freezing rain that was falling down, creating ice crystals in his hair which he could feel weighing the strands down.

He had been running for a few minutes now, dodging trees and letting Neo spout insults at him. It was a far from favourable answer to his problem but it was at least something. Though, as he slowly got further away from the main area of the Aperta tribe, the answer was becoming less and less of being something. Though, he could still be wrong.

Arceus, he hoped he was wrong. Because being right about this was so messed up.

He tripped over a root and fell face first into the snow, making his hair whiter than it already was. The freezing rain bombarded his exposed shirt hole making his back arch. He scampered up and continued running, ignoring the snow and ice on his body.

"Perhaps you'd want to take everything back? Have a whole redo situation? Nah, you probably wouldn't, because you know you would do the same thing over again," taunted Neo, still casually floating beside him, not concerning himself with any of the turmoil Matthew was feeling. Physically or mentally.

_I don't think I'm able to take much more of your bullshit, Neo. If you wanna criticize me, do it after were back in Goldenrod._

"Yes, because we are _definitely_ not lost right now and I'm _sure_ we'll get to civilization by running randomly in the forest."

Matthew had no reply for that, because it was true. He knew he had to stop eventually but he wasn't sure if that would be for a mile, ten, or a whole marathon. He didn't know, so he kept running.

But finding the reason for why he was running was an increasingly hard task to do. It had come up for a brief second as soon as he saw the Aperta symbol on his hand and he had begun running. He didn't dare look at the back of his hand again, afraid that he would begin seeing this as the right thing to do again, because it definitely wasn't.

He tripped over another root and quickly stuck his arms out to break his fall. Snow still managed to find its way into his clothes and hair but to a lesser degree. He quickly got himself up but slipped and landed back into the snow.

"Arceus… fucking damnit.. stupid fucking snow…" he muttered as he slowly got his arms into a solid support.

As soon as he managed to get his first foot on the ground, something hit the side of his head, making him dazed and he found himself in the snow once more.

"Why did you run?"

He froze.

His head turned on its own, carried purely by his fear, and saw Shali, her face cold with anger and sadness just beneath the surface. Her spear inches away from his face.

"Why did you run?" she asked again, giving him a pleading tone. The spear came closer.

Matthew backed his head away from the sharp point, mixed emotions piling up to escape his mouth. "I don't know why I ran, Shali, alright?" He used his arms to roll himself over onto his back, now they were facing one another. "But I have to leave, sorry."

He began getting up when he was hit once more with the spear. "Your aura _lies_. You _do_ know why, Matthew, so say it! At least say why!" yelled Shali.

"Fine. It was fear," said Matthew, giving a random answer. "So could you stop pointing that thing at me?!"

"Stop! Stop lying!" she said, letting her teeth show. "How could you be like this?"

"Me? How about you? Was I just a pawn in your master plan?" He paused. What he said struck a nerve, and he felt more anger to spew. "Did you even care if I lived or died? Did you just want to get out of being blessed with Azen?"

"I was going to explain myself to you, but you ran off, remember?" she replied.

"Well it's a bit fucking late for that, huh?"

"Do you think I had a choice? Did you think something magical would be sent from the heavens to help me out? No, Matthew, that's not how things work. Not for me, not for you, not for anyone."

That struck nerve was suddenly bashed down, "Who the hell are _you_ to lecture me on making a forced choice or working on my own? You don't know what I've gone through, what happened to me, what I had to do."

"And I suppose you know everything, every little bit of information on me then?" questioned Shali.

"No. I don't, and frankly, I don't think I need to." Matthew tried to stand up and this time he felt the aura bind set in. "What the fuck, Shali?!"

"During our nights together, I saw your aura. I saw it feel the guilt, the sadness, the yearning to help me. Was that fake? Did you not care at all?" She retracted her spear and moved closer.

She knelt down beside him and showed her paw, the symbol looking identical to the one he bore. "Does this mean nothing to you?"

And then, the reason why he had run away became so clear again.

"It means too much to me. _That_ is the problem."

"What?"

He raised his hand, struggling against the bind, and showed his own symbol. "This thing, this symbol… This is a commitment. Something that I already have and don't need another."

"No, it isn't, Matthew! If you would just let me speak, I'll tell you why-"

"Oh, what? That this thing doesn't mean anything? Because that's a fallacy if I've ever heard one."

Shali growled, causing Matthew to tense, "If you are so dense as to not let me even answer, then I am going to leave."

"Fine then! Leave!" he yelled.

Both of them were shocked at the harshness he had exerted in his voice. The freezing rain dropped all over them, beginning to taper off into a more healthy flurry of snow. Neither one reacted to the cold weather, rather they were focused on the coldness each of them radiated toward the other.

Slowly, Matthew felt the aura bind release his body but he didn't move. He didn't think he _could_ move, not after that. It was like breaking the silence at a funeral, somebody had to do it but nobody wanted to.

That somebody turned out to be Shali. She stood back up, looking at Matthew with some sort of glare that made fear jostle his body. The spear swung near his face but was pulled away just as it was about to make contact. Though he wouldn't have held it against her if she went in for a final injury. She turned and walked off, not looking back.

Matthew broke the pseudo-paralysis he was in and stood up, shaking the snow from his palms and brushing it off from his clothes. His eyes naturally peered over to the direction Shali had gone and sure enough, there was no sign of her.

He shook it off and began walking. Not running, there was no reason for it anymore, was there? He was sure he was far enough away from the Aperta tribe by now and Shali probably wasn't going to stop him... _Stop, stop thinking about that Matthew. Just keep walking,_ he thought.

* * *

The forest never seemed so docile. Barely anything moved from the place it was set by Mother Nature. Some were glazed by the ice from the freezing rain, creating imperfect refractors from leaves, branches and stray bark.

This, however peaceful, environment was not resonating with Matthew well. The vortex that wracked the inside of his head was juxtaposed against that around him.

_Did I do something wrong?_ The question echoed, only being answered by other questions of similar degree. Had he done something wrong? He knew it could be _perceived_ as wrong but was it _inherently_ wrong? Something just wasn't adding up. He had to do it, no argument there. So why did it feel so damn wrong?

He stopped and looked back, half expecting to see Shali there. She wasn't, but what would he have done anyway? Apologise, definitely. And to let her speak, that too, was definite. Those were the things he had denied her in his frantic state. Would that be it? _No,_ his mind answered, _there's more, you know that._

"Matthew."

He turned towards the voice, recognizing it as his own, and saw Neo standing there, standing straight and arms crossed.

"We should talk."

Surprised by how Neo spoke, devoid of spite, he stuttered and then spoke aloud, "No. Not right now. When we get warm, we'll talk." Matthew didn't mind speaking out loud to Neo when it was just them, it felt more natural to him anyway. He walked forward and went right through Neo, who simply reappeared in front of him.

"Come on, Matthew. It's not like you can avoid this, your thoughts are too prevalent for you to just ignore this."

He pushed through the ghost-like body of Neo, swiping it away with a wave of his hand. "I can and will avoid it. Not because I want to, but I because I need to."

Reappearing again, Neo said, "I get your point, but if you ever want to stop those thoughts from driving you mad, I think it's worth your while to lend an ear."

This time, Matthew stopped just in front of Neo. "What do you want?"

"I think this is more centered around you, buddy. You're mind is a mess and you only have yourself to blame." Neo uncrossed his arms and stood more relaxed, "We don't agree on a lot, I'm sure you can unironically agree to that. But I can recognize when there's something we _both_ think is wrong."

Matthew was silent, feeling the snowflakes melt against his skin. It wasn't as cold as he thought.

"What you did with Shali, that was wrong, though not for the reason you're thinking of."

"What other reason is there?" he said solemnly, "Team Saber is my priority, my commitment. The moment I start adding stuff to my priorities, it's going to become a shitshow. And with what I have to handle with Team Saber already, do you really wanna see what happens?"

Neo sighed, "You're not serious, right? You mean to tell me that you have no other reason to not stick with Shali other than that?"

"Well, I'm sure there are plenty of reasons but they aren't as big as that-"

"Oh, bullshit!" yelled Neo suddenly, taking Matthew off guard. He had never seen him like this before. Neo definitely got flustered at times but he was never one to ever flare up like that.

"What the hell, Neo? Don't get pissed off because I made a decision that you don't approve of. If you haven't gotten used to that kind of stuff now, it's your own fucking fault," said Matthew, hesitant of the reaction it would evoke.

"This has nothing to do with me 'approving' your actions. This is me laying down the fact that you are so stupid that you decided to throw away the one thing that life has handed directly to you after so many years."

"And what's that?"

"Oh my fucking… Damnit, Matthew, it's called a friend. Shali is your _friend._ "

Matthew paused, shook his head and said, "No. She's not my friend. She was nice, yes, but she was never my friend."

"Yes, she is. Stop denying it and think about it for a second."

He was about to reply when he remembered what happened when he didn't let Shali explain herself fully. He thought all the time they had shared together and came to the same answer that he had beforehand. Nice, but not a friend.

Then he began seeing those moments. Not long moments, but moments nonetheless. She had mended his aura out of her own kindness, she had stopped Azen from throwing anymore rocks at him, even if the end result was more or less the same, she had given him berries and she had let him have some freedom with his psychic. Even today, she had trusted in him that he would beat Azen, and he had _wanted_ to keep that trust.

"So all these memories… And you really don't think she's your friend?" asked Neo, his anger diminished.

"Even if…" Matthew started but was cut off by a sudden blur in his eyes. He wiped them quickly and found they were tears, "Even if Shali is my friend, I can't get her involved in all this. She deserves better."

"She deserves better from you, Matthew."

The snow continued falling, coating Matthew's clothes with a thin white layer. It had begun to pick up the pace a slight bit since it first started.

"Why are you doing this, Neo?"

"Because you've put what you want, no, what you _need_ off to the side for so long that sooner or later, your mind is going to go haywire. And that's not particularly fun for me or you. If you keep going with this Team Saber plan of yours with that mindset, you will make a mistake and then we're both done."

Matthew was silent for a moment, then turned around.

"Where are you going?" asked Neo, though Matthew was sure he already knew the answer.

"To my friend."

* * *

Matthew was walking back. Towards Shali? He wasn't sure. He had been walking around for about half an hour now, trying to find her. She wouldn't be back at the tribe, he had heard that she was exiled moments before his run began. The problem was that psychic didn't have the power to locate people on a whim, so he was left only guessing the direction of where she had gone. In his state he could only wonder, _Is she trying to find me as well?_

No. She could use her aura sense to find him easily. After all, she had two auras to follow.

The snow had stopped for now, it had used up the last of its power about five minutes ago. The white layer that had descended onto Matthew's clothes quickly fell off, no longer being replenished.

Neo was silent, and for once, Matthew was put at ease by that fact. It didn't happen often that they actually stayed out of each other's way.

He stopped walking and tried to listen for a sound. Anything. He had done this every few minutes or so, waiting for just a little hint of where something might be. It could be Shali. Most of the time it had been just a snapped branch or a small forest pokemon darting around.

There was a sound of leaves being displaced and he turned towards it. He couldn't see what made it and so he investigated, walking towards where he heard it from. Soon he heard it again, and again.

He moved around trees and kept a watchful eye out for roots. This had to be Shali, right? No, it couldn't be, why here of all places? It didn't matter why, as long as she was here. But was she?

She was.

As Matthew moved around another tree he saw a clump of bushes together, holding some light blue berries. He wasn't one hundred percent sure, but it seemed like they were Yache berries. In front of that bush was a Lucario who held a spear in their right hand, the left was picking some of the berries. There was already a significant pile to the right of her.

"Shali! Oh, Arceus, I never thought I was going to find you."

She raised her head to him speaking but then let it dip back down to her work, not even turning.

_Oh. The silent treatment. Fair enough, I deserve that,_ he thought. He sighed, letting repose set in. "Okay, I understand that you're really, _really_ pissed at me. And I get it. You have every right to hold everything I said against me."

Shali bent down and picked a single berry, looked it over and tossed it to the pile next to her. She found another berry and repeated the process.

"Shali, I'm sorry for what I said. It was wrong of me to talk to you like that and… I'm sorry for running away, I know how you said that's against your tribe's code," he said, feeling his melancholy smile turn into an expression more suitable for the adjective.

She stopped, and Matthew's hopes skyrocketed. But then she stood up and walked around to another side of the berry bush, letting her face show. She looked like when he was caught up in the trap, staring with loyalty for her tribe and little more than that. It gave him a chilling thought, _Does this mean I'm nothing more to her than another human who wandered into this place? That can't be what this is, right?_

_Right?_

"Please, Shali. Please let me talk to you," he turned his wrist over and showed it to the Lucario, "This symbol means something to me, alright? It does. But I don't think I know what it means for you, or for the both of us."

She went down again and picked a few more berries, tossing them over to the pile without much care.

"Could you just spare a moment? Just a bit to tell me what you wanted to say back there? I would listen, I would listen to all of it."

Shali stood up and went over to her pile again, looked thoughtfully at it, then went back to the bush to pick more berries.

"Okay," he said simply. "I understand. If you don't want me here, I'll go." He turned around and felt something break on the inside. "But thank you for the time you spent with me, it was nice having someone to talk to." He took another look at the symbol and how its eye-like appearance was staring into him. "I'll see you later, Shali. I wish you the best." There was a breath, and he started walking.

He felt something fall onto his right shoulder. It was a spear.

"Whatever you do, don't speak or interrupt. Show me that who I'm talking to isn't the same one who ran away," she said quietly, almost with an edge of threat.

Matthew nodded. He tried to turn himself around toward Shali but the spear moved closer to his neck and he got the message quickly. _Right. Let her speak, let her tell her side of the story._

"So you are going to listen?" she asked.

Another nod.

"Okay then." The spear distanced itself from his neck and eventually fell off. "You can turn around now."

He did so with extra caution, not wanting to lose this opportunity. The stare that had shook him was gone, now it was just Shali.

"When I saw you a few days ago, hanging from that trap, I never thought much of it. I was on border patrol and you were caught, I had to deliver you to the elder for execution, even if you had two auras."

Matthew listened, and almost grinned at the mention of him hanging upside down due to the trap.

"As I told you, I don't believe that all humans are malignant, unlike the majority in my tribe, but that never stopped me from following their rules. I was a loyal member and although I had my own thoughts, I followed their laws. But when Azen was the one I was chosen to be blessed with, I knew I had to leave.

"I had no idea how to do it. My loyalty was too strong for me to break the rules so deliberately. So when I saw you use your psychic against Azen, I knew what had to happen."

Shali held her spear in both hands, running one hand across the wood. "Being blessed to a human isn't a law that had been implemented nor one that forbid a human participating in a fight. Then after I saw you heal so quickly, I was sure that I could go through with it. And I wasn't breaking my loyalty so blatantly. I could be free from Azen and not worry anymore."

_I understand. I wouldn't want to be stuck in there with that ass,_ thought Matthew.

"It was a way where both of us could get out. As much as I wanted to get away, I enjoyed being with you, and didn't want to see you die if I could prevent it," she sighed and looked Matthew in the eye. "I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark for so long, I had meant to explain this after the blessing."

"No, it was my fault that I ran away and…" Matthew trailed off, realizing he had spoken.

"You can talk now, I've said what I wanted to say."

He smiled faintly, "It was my fault. I could have stopped myself but I didn't."

She returned the expression, "We all have our reasons."

"Yeah, I just had some that weren't thought out."

They stood there, the snow beginning to fall again. Where there was briefly cold, there was now warmth. Shali returned the spear to one hand and planted it by her side, then she let herself smile fully. Matthew was relieved to find that he was looking at the Shali who he had come to know and not the one who had stared him down.

"Thanks for coming back, Matthew," said Shali.

"Thank _you_ for giving me another chance with this, Shali." He allowed his posture to relax and saw the symbol peering up at him. "So… what does this mean? To you, I mean."

She looked at her backhand, "To me, it means my freedom. For us, it's a bond that cannot be undone."

"Umm, I'm not getting a good idea of what that means."

"All the vows we made during the blessing shall apply until the end of our days. I intend to keep those vows."

Matthew was about to say something but held his tongue. _Think about this Matthew, don't mess this up again._ But what should he say? If Shali kept those vows then she would most likely come with him, and that would lead to her getting involved with Team Saber.

_She's your friend,_ Neo's words echoed in his head.

"If you want…" he paused, making sure he was saying what he wanted to say, "I'll keep them as well."

"Yes. I would like that."

"So…" Matthew hesitated, "friends?"

Shali's eyes lit up, there was a soft smile that revealed almost a bit of relief, "Friends."

He let all the tension in his body release. Even the cold didn't feel so bad now. He couldn't believe he was thinking this but he had never been more glad he listened to Neo.

"So what now?" asked Shali.

"I have something to do. I've kind of been a little delayed from this whole experience," he replied.

"Sorry about that."

"Eh, water under the bridge. Are you going to come?"

"I believe I have to."

_Remember, you wanted this._ "Then we have to go to Goldenrod City and I… I kinda don't know the way," he chuckled at the end.

"Well, then. Let's go."

They walked off together.

* * *

Colvin stared at the little sandwich that had been set in front of him an entire hour earlier. Soon enough they would remove it, then maybe replace it. He didn't mind whether or not they did so, his fate wouldn't be decided by the sandwich.

The cell was little thirty six square foot cube that allowed minimal movement but that wasn't very concerning to him. He imagined he wouldn't be doing a lot of moving when he was six feet under. Actually, calling it a cell would be giving it too much credit. It was a glorified box. The walls were steel and a single fluorescent bulb was what lit it up, though with such a small area it was more than enough. The door had a single sliding visor which allowed a pair of eyes to peek through and make sure he was still there.

What was about to happen to him, he had no idea. Thinking about it certainly didn't help, it was what caused his appetite to become nonexistent.

How did he get to this point? He was a mercenary and had been hired for Team Saber in what he thought was a temporary contract but he quickly learned there was no such thing as 'temporary' with them.

Oh well, it was really good money that he was earning anyway. He didn't mind working exclusively if it meant there would be consistent dough rolling in.

Then there was Julia.

She had tried to convince him to get out of the business but it had come just as he accepted the contract for the Team. But she understood and allowed him to keep going. It didn't keep her from worrying but he did his best to ease her.

Three years in and there was a new job for him, he had to kidnap someone. One by the name of Matthew Alexander. He seemed like an alright kid; decent grades, played soccer, even in a band with friends. Why did Team Saber want him? His contract was to never question the employer but he found out soon afterwards. He chloroformed the kid easy enough when he was walking alone in the night.

Another two kids were brought in by different mercenaries. Both kids were dead within a few days. Colvin had been the one to fetch Matthew for whatever they had to do. As he was struggling to pull the kid along, the look on his face was one he would have rather wanted to see on a five year old rather than a seventeen year old. His eyes teary, lip trembling and had the high voice of someone in a tantrum. He was desperate not to follow the end that the others had.

However, he passed him off to others and walked off. He felt the screams of fear torment his mind for a few days before fading out. Thanks to Julia.

He forgot about him for nine years.

But then the kid's hand was around his throat, hatred simmering in his eyes. There were bodies behind both of them. Some barely moving, others not at all.

He was sure he would die. The kid had the intention to kill. But just as it seemed Matthew would squeeze hard enough to snap his neck, the evil in him just sort of… disappeared, like another being had taken over him.

"No… I won't.." he had heard him mutter.

The grip disappeared and he fell on the floor struggling to regain oxygen.

Just as he got a good whole breath of air his mind went blank.

His head was in a daze for a few days and he only managed to recover his name. He had no idea what he did, where he lived, who he loved.

He had gone to a bar, figuring a social scene would help his head find connections again. There had been a woman. Her name was Alexis? Maybe. They talked and that led to more talking and that led to kissing and touching.

Though Julia was there too.

He had seen her storm out but had figured it was because of a breakup from a boyfriend. He was half-right.

Because they were married.

He twisted the gold ring on his finger. _Damnit, Julia, I didn't know!_

When he got his memory recovered by Team Saber he knew what he had to do. He needed revenge.

Look where that got him.

He heard a knock on the door and the visor slid open. Eyes stared in, barely meeting his.

"It's time," the eyes said.

Colvin stood up, his head almost hitting the top of the cell. He took a step forward and was pressed against the door. "I'm ready," was all he said.

The door opened and two pairs of hands were immediately on him, pinning his arms to his sides. He made no move to struggle, there was nothing he could do that would change his future.

He recognized the two men who were holding him, walking him down the corridors of the Deity Lab. They were with the same ones who just a few days ago aided him in attempting to recapture Matthew. He wouldn't be able to appeal to them, not only because he treated them terribly when he had failed but they wouldn't regardless. The shadow of Team Saber was on them all.

They passed by scientists, interns and other mercenaries but none looked over at him being walked down. It made sense, he was a dead man anyway.

Before he knew it, they were stopped at a pair of sliding doors. What was behind them? Probably tools for torture, that's what he imagined he would be receiving after his failure. After a few seconds the doors parted.

There was a chair with straps attached to the arm rests.

"You can let him go, he won't try to escape," said a voice to his left. The arms instantly left him.

Colvin looked over and saw The Doctor. He was a tall man, though rather lanky with a mess of black hair carrying a few gray strands. His eyes were slightly sunken but still held plenty of energy behind them. His actual name was a mystery, as were all the names of the top ranking officials in Team Saber. The one who he had spoken to after the failure was called The Voice.

"How are you doing today, Colvin?" The Doctor asked. He approached, leaving his guard completely down.

If he wanted to, he could have strangled him right then but he didn't, as it would be like walking on a treadmill going at a running pace. Instead he said, "Fine, Doctor."

"I'm told you haven't been eating your food that we've given you."

"I don't have an appetite."

"You may have failed but we aren't about to let you suffer from malnutrition."

This caught his attention, "Pardon? Why would that matter if I'm going to die anyway?"

The Doctor chuckled, almost letting loose a coughing fit in the process. "Yes, well, it seems there are others who still think there is a use for you."

His mind felt faint, "So you're not going to kill me?"

"Oh, Arceus, no. However, that assumes you accept our proposal." The Doctor grinned and Colvin let a shudder run its course through him. Whenever The Doctor grinned he allowed some of the mad scientist in him to be visible.

"What is it then?" he asked, swallowing his uneasiness.

"NH-3 was a true wonder. It was a shame to lose him after so much progress." The Doctor sighed, "So many we had tried but had failed to contain the neo gene."

_NH-3. Heh, that's a laugh. His name is Matthew. I'm not going to get revenge on your science project, I'm getting revenge on someone who ruined my life._

"We think it's time to begin experimentation again."

Colvin's eyes widened, "After more than three years?"

"Not my choice. I would have liked it to occur sooner."

"So they need me to take more kids?"

"No."

The pieces fell into place in his head. "I.. I don't… Oh, Arceus…"

"I know it sounds rather… unattractive, but you must understand that this is the only you may be able to leave this room with your body still intact." The Doctor put a hand on Colvin's shoulder, "The big guys at the top see you as just a deadweight right now. You need to give 'em a reason to keep you around."

"If I-" Colvin took a breath, "If I let this happen… will I be able to continue working to take down Mat- I mean, NH-3?"

The Doctor grinned again, causing another shudder, "Assuming you don't die with the procedure."

He paused and looked at his wedding ring, he had been subconsciously twisting it. The feeling of Matthew's hand around his neck unearthed itself in his memory. "Strap me in…" he muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said fucking strap me in."

The Doctor had a brief expression of surprise but quickly led Colvin over to the chair. In a moment, there were at least five more people on him, attaching straps and putting things on him to monitor his vitals.

Soon he was immobile save for his fingers and head which moved minimally. The Doctor approached with a syringe that had a dark purplish substance. It flowed like water as it was flicked to get rid of air bubbles.

"You're going to feel a pinch," The Doctor said as though Colvin were a child getting vaccinated.

The needle went into his shoulder, he didn't quite feel it but there was definitely a pinch. The contents drained into his body causing an ache to form. He knew it wasn't quite over yet.

"Are you ready?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes," he replied without delay.

"You'll feel more than a pinch this time."

"Just fucking do it!" he yelled suddenly, getting sick of the anticipation that was building inside him.

The Doctor nodded to him then again to others to the side of him.

"Preparing first electric current at three kilovolts," said a scientist at a computer. The air was filled with the steady low hum of a charging machine. "Releasing first electric current."

Colvin let out a yell but was quick to stifle it. So far it only felt like a mild taser. Something that hurt, sure, but it was not worth screaming over.

"Preparing second electric current at one hundred kilovolts." The hum started again. "Releasing second electric current."

This one he couldn't stop himself from screaming. His muscles spazzed and tensed at random, making him feel like he was being contorted. All the while, the electricity burned his skin and made his eyes grow dark. He almost felt empathy for Matthew who had been bombarded by the electric attacks.

"Preparing third electric current at ten megavolts." The scientist speaking and hum of the machine sounded so distant. _Ten **m**_ _ **egavolts**_ _? Am I even going to survive that? I have to. I'm not letting Matthew win._ "Releasing third electric current."

In an instant his eyes filled with black. He didn't even get the chance to feel the electricity before he went unconscious.

He opened his eyes and saw the lab was gone. In fact, everything was gone, all was replaced with a jet black landscape. He was standing, completely clothed, on the ground, he assumed. It was hard to tell with everything being black.

_I'm dead, aren't I? I didn't make it through._ He looked at his hand, it still had his wedding ring. Tears came into his eyes. _Julia, I'm sorry. I hope you have a good life._

He felt a cold spell and looked back up. There was a shadowy figure, somehow darker than the land around it. The edges of the being flickered like fire and it had no facial features and was svelte with its movement. It walked over to Colvin and stuck its hand out. The hand appeared human despite it being like a shadow.

"What are you?" Colvin asked, wiping the tears away.

"I am Neo," it replied, not sounding like any particular gender.

"You mean the neo gene?"

"Yes."

Colvin took a shaky breath, letting his mind catch up with all that had happened. "Am I dead?"

"No, but you will be."

Colvin felt the coldness around him increase and he realized what was going on. If he didn't do something then he would end up dead. "What can I do?"

The being motioned its hand toward Colvin's direction. "Take it, and all will be resolved."

Quickly he reached for it before stopping himself. Was this all just a ruse? Was this shadow person just something of an illusion that Team Saber created to give him hope of living when in reality he was going to die all the same? Wait, no… that sounded ridiculous.

_Matthew… revenge…_

He took the hand. It was ice cold.

The being suddenly glowed bright, almost blinding him. The cold around him disappeared. As the light dispersed, he thought his eyes were deceiving him.

The being had turned into him. And it was smiling. "Good luck," it said, there was now a distinct masculine tone in its voice.

Then reality rushed back.

"Heartbeat! We have a heartbeat! Maintain papaverine injections!" he heard The Doctor yelling. His eyes were cloudy but he could tell he was moving along at a fast pace.

He dipped in and out of unconsciousness, feeling pain in his chest and head before letting the flow take him into a coma.

Just as he was passing out, The Doctor said one more thing.

"Welcome back, NH-4."


	8. Syncopation

" _It's hard to describe what is like being back in the city. Terrifying would be a great adjective, but it wouldn't nearly comprehend everything I feel._

" _The horror, jumpiness, nostalgia, yearning to go back, how am I supposed to describe all that with just one word? I can't, simple enough. And that's fine, in my opinion, because I don't think I'm supposed to._

" _Crap… I'm rambling, I need to get my head back on its tracks…"_

* * *

Many pairs of eyes were giving them strange glances as they passed by people on the sidewalk. The eyes were drawn in by the spear Shali still carried with her. She carried it by her side, not letting it touch the concrete lest she should scratch it unnecessarily.

Shali was rather surprised when they first entered the city. It was just so… _big_. And open, much more open than the forest had ever been. She could see miles in one direction with the only thing blocking her vision being cars and people. The sky stretched up forever, not being blocked by any trees. The snow complimented the visual spectacle of it too, creating a sort of white, shiny wonderland.

The sight of other pokemon walking or sitting with humans was another thing she found interesting. She had her moral of not judging humans so quickly but aside from Matthew, there had not been much room to test it. So to see so many people show care to the pokemon with them was something amazing. Something she never imagined she would see.

However, she didn't like everything here.

The glances were one thing. Despite her annoyance to them, it was small enough she could ignore it. Then there were those who not only gave a mean look but whose aura's also emanated hate. She didn't know why they hated her, if it was because she had a spear or even just because she was a pokemon.

Then there were the things that made her think that her tribe had a point of humans being bad.

Matthew had claimed when they had gone into the urban area of the city that, "There's a lot of scummy activities around here. Just stick close and don't let people get your attention. And keep walking, no matter what."

His words were true. As they were walking to wherever they were going, she didn't have time to ask, she saw things that disgusted her.

Occasionally, she would see an ever so devious hand dip down into another's pocket and retreat before the victim could notice. And when they did, it was too late.

This, combined with the fact that there were plenty of suspicious people lurking around at every corner, eyeing those who passed them, as well as those who didn't give her looks of hate or interest but what seemed like desire, and her positive outlook had shrunk considerably.

But no matter how bad of experience this was for her, it appeared to be nothing when compared to Matthew.

Out of interest, she had used her aura sense while she was looking around. There was a vibrant array of them dispersed throughout the city but for some reason, Matthew's showed almost pure fear. He kept jerking his vision to random places and was speed walking, making it a little hard for her to keep up with crowds coming from the opposite direction.

As for the little piece of aura in him she knew as Neo, he remained silent but still pulsing with unstable agitation.

Shali didn't know where they were going. As far as she was concerned, the city was the maze to end all mazes. Matthew seemed to but had never communicated that information to her. Almost as if he were afraid to speak.

He was wearing a new coat, though she wasn't sure where it was from. At a point, when they were still in the suburbs, he had gone into a small house and she had waited patiently for him. When he returned, he had a coat and toque on, hiding his white hair, and didn't speak a word.

It had been almost an hour since then, and she still had no idea where they were going. They were going very deep into the city and currently in an area that would be called the textbook definition of sketchy.

Buildings that used to have life thriving in them were now hollow shells with broken windows. Echoes and groans of the sick and deluded rang through the alleys, setting her uneasy. The aura here was dark, unstable, _dangerous._ She prayed to Sphaera that it would be over soon.

However, it continued for some time. Thankfully, the scenery eventually became a bit more palatable. They passed a little soup kitchen with a few people, roughly clothed, were coming in and out.

Shali couldn't help but feel a smile come to her. Out of the dark aura this area had, this one place held an aura of hope and kindness.

They kept walking, letting the snow fall against them. Matthew had increased his pace slightly, as though he were excited for what lay ahead. And for a while, she kept that pace as well.

But as they passed an alley, she stopped.

There were three humans, all standing, who were beating another human lying on the ground. The one on the ground was bloody and trying his best to block the incoming kicks with his arms, though it appeared to be all for naught. She could hear the three assaulters cursing and insulting at the victim though she couldn't hear anything coming from the victim himself. No pleas, no cries for help, nothing.

"What are you doing?!" she heard Matthew hiss.

She turned to see him with a look of urgency. "That human down there, he's getting hurt."

"I know, I saw him when I passed by, now come on!"

"But… that human isn't saying anything, he isn't even trying to get them to stop." She looked back to the alley, the beating was still occurring.

"He's probably speech-impaired or something. We have to keep going Shali, I can't stop."

"Shouldn't we help him?" she asked.

Matthew opened his mouth, eyes angry and scared, ready to say something venomous, and stopped. He sighed, putting a palm to his head, feeling how hot it was regardless of the cold. "No, we can't." He let the hand drop from his face down to his side again, "We should, but we can't." He reached forward, grabbing Shali's paw and began walking. "Come on."

She took a last look at the beating. It was largely over now, the final attack came from one of the assaulters spitting onto the now motionless victim. Then, due to Matthew's tug, her vision was blocked by a brick wall.

She used her aura sense again and saw the dark aura that plagued this area once more. There were three darker patches in the alley they had passed. In the middle of them was a more brightly coloured one, but it was very faded. Though it didn't disappear, that she could take solace in.

Her head went over to Matthew, about to ask how much longer they would stay in this area, she was ready to leave. His aura now emitted disappointment. Not to anyone except himself.

She decided it would be better to just hold off.

* * *

After some time, they left the area behind and Shali let relief wash over her as the aura turned vibrant once more.

Matthew's stopped in front of a building. It had white sides with a red arch spanning the doorway. The roof was also red and it curved downward as it touched the walls. A white pokeball with red outlines was embedded above the doorway. The automatic sliding glass doors and square black letters that read, 'Goldenrod City Pokemon Center.'

Shali saw his aura finally change from disappointment to ease. So this is where they were going? She had heard that these places were used to heal pokemon. But she didn't have any injuries, so why were they here?

Matthew walked forward into the pokemon center, the doors sliding open as he was near. She followed close, feeling warm air coat her as she passed through.

The inside had a beige tile floor that had a picture of a pokeball emblazoned on it through red and orange tiles. The walls were bright orange and held many posters for various tournaments and contests. Humans and their pokemon were strewn about, talking amongst themselves or simply lounging around. In the center, there was a woman with curly, rich pink hair that had two oblong loops that hung like pigtails. She sat behind a red desk and gave a bright smile.

"Hi! Welcome to Goldenrod's pokemon center! I'm Nurse Joy, how may I help you?" the woman asked.

Shali, using her aura sense, could confirm that, like her name, the woman had a lot of joy in her.

"Yeah, I mean, I hope you can," said Matthew, giving off a large, exasperated sigh after he finished.

"Oh? What's the problem?"

"Well, you see, uhh… remember that blizzard about a week ago?"

"I should, there were many cases of hypothermia we had to treat," said Nurse Joy, shaking her head. "I really do wish people pay closer attention to the dangers of weather."

"Ah, then you might not like this next part."

She couldn't understand what was going on. There _had_ been a blizzard not too long ago but as far as she knew, Matthew had only come into the Aperta tribe's territory two days ago. Where was he going with this?

"Shali and I here got caught in the middle of it while we were on our way here and… well… we lost the trail."

"Oh, dear. I hope you didn't freeze."

Matthew shrugged, "I was pretty well bundled up and Shali was just fine with her fur, plus we had plenty of Yache berries to keep us warm, right Shali?"

Put on the spot, Shali fumbled with her speech. "I.. uh.. We… the blizzard.." They weren't caught in the middle of a blizzard, Matthew was not 'bundled up' when they were in the forest, she had picked Yache berries, sure, but they were long forgotten by now. What was happening? Why was he lying?

"Right," said Matthew, not skipping a beat, "so we make it through the night and we're lost. My pokedex was frozen solid and malfunctioned so I couldn't figure out where we were." Matthew scratched his head through the toque, "It's been a rough few days, I'll tell you that much."

"I can imagine," Nurse Joy gave a sympathetic expression, "How did you manage to get out?"

"Thankfully, she's a very good navigator and got us to the city." Matthew took a moment and put a hand on Shali's shoulder in a commending sense. He looked at her, "It took some time but you did a really good job in getting us here."

That _was_ a truth, but to her, it didn't sound like it was. "Matthew… I don't understand, why are you lying?" she asked.

"Ah, you're right, Shali. I guess I am getting a bit off-topic," said Matthew, ignoring her question and taking his hand off.

"You can understand her?" said Nurse Joy.

Matthew turned back, "Well, we've been through a lot. I can understand enough."

"Ah, I see."

"Anyway, we want to get a room and the problem is-"

"Stop ignoring me, Matthew. Answer the question, why are you lying?" interrupted Shali, banging the butt of her spear on the tile floor. Many eyes turned to the source of the sound.

"Hey! Shali!" he yelled suddenly more aggressive. He turned his entire body over to her. "I get that you're a little cranky after spending a lot of time out in the open…"

She was about to reply with the same snarky tone she was hearing from him, then she saw his face. It didn't reflect his voice at all. His expression was pleading with her, trying to make her understand what he was doing.

"... but you can't just make a scene like this. I gave you a lot of leeway with that spear and I don't want to take it away. Understand?"

With that, she felt a strong urge to reply, regardless if Matthew wanted her to stay quiet or not. Her spear was her pride, it was _not_ just another object. She let it slide though. Whatever he was doing, it must be important for him to act this out of place.

"I understand," she said, nodding. _You owe me a big explanation to this._

"Thank you," Matthew replied. He looked back at Nurse Joy, "As I was saying, the problem is that I lost my trainer ID somewhere in the blizzard."

"Well, that definitely is a problem…" said Nurse Joy, going into thought. "I'm sorry but I can't give you a free-of-charge room if you don't have your ID with you."

"Not even just one night?"

"It would be unfair if I only gave you special treatment." She gave a sad smile, "But renting a room is still an option if you have money. It's only one thousand pokedollars per night."

Shali saw his eyes flash with fear, "Oh, well, I guess that's an option. Let me check." His hand went into the coat's pocket, wiggled around a little bit, then paused. "Well, would you look at that," he said, with an almost distasteful undertone. He pulled out a clump of different coloured bills. "Is this enough?" He handed the bills over.

Nurse Joy skimmed through the money, "Plenty enough, you could stay two or three nights if you wanted to."

"Thanks." The bitterness came forth fully, he didn't even try to hide it. "Just one night please."

"Alright then," she took a few of the bills and handed the rest back to Matthew. "Name please?"

"Jackson Bullock."

She reached under her desk and pulled a card that was white with a pokeball on it, "Your room is number two-fourteen, have a nice day."

He nodded, taking the card, "Yeah… you too."

They turned away from the desk and headed off to their room.

Along the way, Shali could hear Matthew muttering things to himself. She couldn't make out much but she heard something along the lines of, "Arceus.. fucking.. fucking stupid… so fucking stupid.."

* * *

They reached their room before long and Matthew placed the card against the sensor. A ding was heard and he swung the door open.

The room was of a decent size. It was outfitted with two beds, a dresser, a mounted television on a portion of the wall opposite to the beds and a window that overlooked the street they used to be on. It looked remarkably like his room at the Silverline.

Matthew immediately went over to the window and peeked outside, scanning the area. He could still feel the sour thoughts poking in his mind. How could he have been so stupid? Damnit, he had done it plenty of times before, why'd he mess up this time? He remembered the story, the alias… what was wrong with him? And it was something so simple too, something that he could have easily done on accident and be done with.

He finished looking and was finally able to breath easy. _Thank Arceus, it's still safe._ He went over to the curtains and pulled them across the window.

The door closed with a click. "Okay, Matthew. I played along, now are you going to tell me what's happening?"

He turned around and faced Shali, she was looking at him intensely. At that moment, he knew he wouldn't be escaping this room until she got answers. And he could understand that.

"Do you remember when you were dragging me through the forest?" he asked.

Shali broke her seriousness with a little smile, "Yes, I do. Quite well."

"I asked you if you were part of Team Saber and you said you didn't know what that was."

She nodded, "I remember your aura. It seemed scared but I just took it as because I was dragging you somewhere you didn't know of."

"I mean, that was part of it but at that time, I was more worried about if Team Saber had captured me again."

"And now you're paranoid that they'll actually do it now that you're here," she said, figuring it out. "So what are they, then?"

"A group of bad people, really bad people. They were the ones who gave me my… powers. They're dangerous, secretive but also very careful in what they do."

"Why is that important?"

"It means they aren't going to do anything they can't back out of. If someone found a hacked security camera in a pokemon center or looking into one, the police would get involved and they have the risk of being found out."

Shali bent her head down in understanding, then raised it back up with a touch of fury in her expression. "But you lied. You lied to that nice person and treated my spear like just another object." That appeared to trigger something in her. She got close, angling her spear down into an offensive position. "One of our vows is to respect and care for one another. I can respect your decision to go into the city for whatever reason you have but I expect you to do the same for my spear."

Matthew, for a brief moment, felt more scared of the weapon-wielding Lucario in front of him than he was of Team Saber. "I understand. Your-your spear is important to you and I shouldn't have disrespected it. That's my mistake alone."

Her spear came back up to her side. "Then the lying, you made up this story about getting trapped in a blizzard."

"Yeah, that's… that's my fault, again. I didn't even have to lie if I had just checked the pockets in the coat that I… got. If I knew the money was there, I could have just bought a night without all the hassle."

He saw the inquisitive look surface in her eyes and prepared himself for the phrase that would surely follow.

"You stole it."

"Shali, you have to see that I-"

"Stop, Matthew."

Hearing the very weighty tone she had, he did so.

"I get it, alright? You have to lie, steal… anything, really, because Team Saber is after you. I just…" She came closer, non-threateningly this time. "Please, just tell me what you're doing next time, okay?" She raised her paw and showed the black symbol, "We're bonded by Sphaera now, everything you do affects me."

He looked down at his symbol, pulling back the sleeve of his stolen coat. "I know," he sighed, "and I'll keep it in mind the next time it comes up."

"Swear you will?"

"I swear, Shali." He felt some of the tension leave, "So are we good?"

"We are."

And the rest of the tension disappeared. "Thanks," he said, giving a small grin. "You know, you can be really freakin' scary at times."

"Only when I want to be," she replied. "So what are we going to do here?"

Matthew took off his coat and toque, throwing it onto the bed nearest to the door. "My psychic's been using a lot of energy to keep me from freezing. I'm gonna take a long hot shower to warm up and then rest until tomorrow to get my energy back."

"I'm failing to see how the 'we' part of my question fits into your answer," she said.

"I-I guess you could relax for a little bit. There's not anything else you could do."

Shali gained a look of incredulity, "Matthew, we are in this together now. If you need me to do anything, I'm right here."

"It's not the fact that I don't think you could do something, it's that there is pretty much nothing to do. _I'm_ not even doing much right now."

She looked behind herself, "Then what about the door?"

"What?"

"I'm just saying it probably would be a good idea for someone to watch the door in case someone from Team Saber comes looking for you."

Matthew watched as Shali smirked and continued, "And wouldn't it be useful if there was someone who could read people's intentions by using, say, aura? I think it would be."

He thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess you're right. That would be a pretty good idea," he admitted.

"I thought it might be."

"Alright, I understand, I missed something stupid… again." He turned off to a doorway in the far corner of the bedroom; the way to the bathroom. "I'm going to take that shower now."

"Hey."

Matthew turned, "Yes?"

"Remember, I'm always here."

"I know," he said. He opened the door and walked into the bathroom, "I know."

* * *

"Are you sure that is absolutely everything?" Brian asked.

"Yeah. Trust me, I wish it was less," said Derek, halting the car as they approached a red light. "It's a real clusterfuck, ain't it?"

Pele yawned on Brian's lap, stretching his limbs out and curling back into a snuggly ball. "This feels so far above our pay grade," he said, petting the Growlithe.

The sick day had done him well. He started off with an actual breakfast, eggs on toast, followed up by the walk he had promised Pele the night before. Sure, it was rather brisk out and all, but the fresh air cleared his head like he had never experienced. He ate out at a nice restaurant and then fell asleep on the couch watching a good movie. Hell, he spent the entire day sober even. The urge of having a cold one didn't come to him once.

And most importantly, he was no longer thinking about The White Hair Man.

He referred to the figure he had seen on his way to the Silverline as such because he had come to accept that it wasn't Matthew. No, it was impossible, and he knew it too. The sick day just helped him push through his uncertainty.

There was the silent wish that he had taken another day off but in all, he was glad to be back in the precinct, even if the tsunami of information was a little much.

The case, which he was still interested in solving, had grown a _lot_. Not only was the blood _still_ unidentifiable regardless of the multitude of tests but there was also the fact that the fragments of bone were human. On top of that, they had found traces of the blood trailing out of the room and onto the sidewalk, another collection of the same blood accompanied by melted polyester found near what was apparently a _crater_ in the middle of the road with cracks running all the way to the sidewalks on either side, a gun which had been contorted into an unsightly art sculpture also near the crater, and-

_Holy shit, I'm going to have a brain aneurysm and I'm not even thirty. How Derek managed to try and process all that information is beyond me._

After he had finally mentioned his witness of The White Hair Man to Derek, the current theory they were working with was that the one who attempted to commit suicide was somehow still alive and was walking about. The thought of that being possible had baffled Brian.

"Maybe it's above the pay grade but hey, we were assigned to it, so we gotta solve it, right?" Derek said, accelerating the cruiser as the light turned green.

"Right… So why, again, are we going to the pokemon center? You seemed rather hasty to jump in the car."

"For one, it's pretty much the only place we can actually start. And two, the blood didn't cooperate with any of our tests so we…" he took out a sealed plastic bag with a vial of dark red liquid, "... are going over there to see if they have any matches for it."

"I will be thoroughly surprised if they do. It just seems too easy for something like this." Brian saw the pokemon center a few blocks ahead, miraged by snow. They had been briefly delayed in going there by a torrent of freezing rain of all things. And while he wanted to go as soon as possible, he nearly did slip on his way to the cruiser.

"Oh come on, have some optimism, man. This case is convoluted and weird but not impossible," he drove up to the pokemon center and parked beside the sidewalk. "Besides, I have a plan B."

"And that is?"

"A check-up, so to speak, with a blood test included."

"Seriously, Derek? Do you know how much bad press we're gonna get for that if the public finds out?" He felt something shift in his lap, Pele had woken up from the car stopping. "Plus, the odds of finding our guy in there are pretty damn low."

"I spoke with the captain about it yesterday and he's keeping everything in check. And the check-up is purely voluntary. If they don't want to do it, they don't have to." Derek took his thermos from the cup holder and drank from it excessively. "And sure, we might not find him here but from what we can tell, he's scared, he's hurt, he might've even been attacked in that cratered area, so he'd want somewhere to lay low for some time, somewhere he wouldn't get attacked. Hence, the pokemon center."

"If someone asked me for a check-up after I shot myself in the head, I'd decline rather quickly," said Brian, scratching under Pele's chin.

"That's the real beauty of it, if they accept, we can come back tomorrow to check to see if the blood matches. If they don't, we can knock on their doors and check their appearance, see if it matches up."

"Ah, yes, because it's not suspicious at all when we walk up and say, 'Hi, I noticed you didn't have a check-up yesterday, mind if I stare at your face for a little bit?'"

"Obviously, we're not going to be that blatant. There was some gang violence two blocks from here a few days ago. If we ask if they've seen anything out of the ordinary, we kill two birds with one stone."

"Fine, fine, that's all nice and dandy and whatnot. Tomorrow, though? That just gives the guy time to get away."

Derek gave a droll look, "You, out of anyone, should know why," he chuckled lightly, "Two words, Richard Zhander."

_Oh boy, wasn't that a fun fucking time._ Brian had headed an investigation against a four-time bank robber and before long, had managed to corner him in a hotel. When they stormed into his room, he was nowhere to be found. So it really pissed him off when a rookie cop went into the room to look over the scene for evidence the next day and Richard Zhander himself answered the door.

The convict had known the police would get him soon so he was prepared when he saw the cruisers arrive. But he was caught by surprise when he didn't expect another officer to come face to face with him only a day after.

"You're right, I should, and do, know why. Despite me wishing I didn't."

Derek patted him on the shoulder, "Let's get going."

"Oh, I'd love to, but I seem to have a forty-pound weight lying on top of me," Brian looked down to Pele, "and I think it just fell asleep again."

The Growlithe's snores were muffled by his head being buried in Brian's coat, clearly not wanting to be woken up.

"Sorry, buddy, we gotta get going."

He opened the cruiser's door and carefully picked Pele up off his lap, making sure to support him with both arms. His little partner squirmed awake.

"Groww.. Growwlithe!" Pele said in protest.

"Don't give me that, bud, you had all the time in the world to sleep _before_ we got here." He bent down and let Pele jump to the pavement.

"Lithe.. Growwll." He circled back to face Brian and lied down, giving a begging look.

"Yes, you'll get a treat after this," he shut the cruiser door, "Just don't look so unprofessional right now, we're in a public space."

"Gro… Lithe.." he said, getting back up on his legs reluctantly. His fur slowly darkened in colour as snowflakes melted on contact with the fiery canine. He strutted over and stopped beside Brian.

Derek walked up next to them, "Come on, you two, we got a job to finish."

They went into the pokemon center, Pele taking the time to shake off the loose water that had accumulated in his fur. Brian's hand went to his coat and unzipped it.

"Hi! Welcome to Goldenrod's pokemon center! How may I help you?" asked Nurse Joy as they approached.

"Hello, Nurse Joy," said Derek, digging into his pocket. He pulled out his badge and Brian did likewise, familiar with the routine. "Detectives Derek Barolin and Brian Elliott of the Goldenrod Police Department, we'd like to speak with you privately if that's possible."

* * *

"I can't say this isn't unorthodox…" said Nurse Joy, having a less than perfect smile.

"Yes, it does sound off-putting but if possible, we would like for you to start asking for check-ups today," replied Derek.

They were in the back of the pokemon center, various Chanseys and Audinos walked around, carrying supplies from one room to the next. After the test was run, garnering no results, they had told Nurse Joy Derek's plan B.

"I will, but only if it's voluntary. I don't want to force the guests staying here to do anything, it wouldn't be good for them," she said.

"Of course, we wouldn't want anything else," said Brian.

"Groww.." Pele agreed.

She nodded and waved a hand to a passing Gardevoir, catching the attention of it. "Lilly, could you come over here for a moment?"

The Gardevoir, Lilly, walked over and bowed her head in greeting.

"Lilly, we are going to begin asking our room guests if they would like a complementary check-up during their stay." Nurse Joy looked back over at the two detectives. "These two fine men suggested it to us so we can help them with their investigation."

" _Hello, I'll do my best to assist you on your task,_ " the Gardevoir spoke into Brian's mind. He flinched from the initial surprise but relaxed for the most part. This wasn't the first time he had worked with psychics.

"Thank you very much, Lilly. Please remember that if they do not wish to have a check-up, they don't have to."

" _Of course, whatever needs to be done._ "

"And… I think that just about wraps our work up here," said Derek, scratching the back of his head.

"Is that it then?" asked Brian.

"Yep, unless you wanted to get Pele checked for whatever the opposite of insomnia is."

He laughed, looking down at the Growlithe who was barking while jumping up in annoyance.

"Thank you for your cooperation," said Derek, sticking out his hand. "We'll be coming by tomorrow to see if there's anything."

Nurse Joy shook his hand, "Have a nice day."

They parted from the back room and came back to the main lobby, a fresh line of trainers waiting to check in to the center. A few looked at them uneasily, seeing their guns and official look.

Nurse Joy was quick to follow them, giving her usual greeting and walking back behind her desk, ready to help the next trainer.

The pair shivered as they stepped back outside into the cold cityscape. The snow was falling heavier now, as though the light flurry between the freezing rain and now was a mere grace period. Brian zipped up his coat, ducking his head into the collar to keep snow from getting in. Pele's fur darkened much faster this time, much to his dismay.

"Do we have anything else happening today?" asked Brian opening the door of the cruiser.

Derek made his way over to the other side, holding onto the side of the car to keep from slipping on the black ice. "Don't think so, I'll radio in and see what's up."

The moment Brian slid into the passenger seat, Pele jumped onto him, forcing a grunt out, and nestled into his lap. The excess water in his fur dripped and soaked into Brian's coat, leaving dark stains.

He put on a sarcastic tone, "Gee, thanks for that, Pele. I was going to give you your treat but-"

He didn't finish his sentence before the Growlithe got up and licked his face, trying to show appreciation in hopes of redeeming himself.

"Alright! Alright! Pele! P-Pele! You can stop already!" he said, combing the fur of his partner with his fingers. The hot tongue stopped, and he was left staring at an overly happy pokemon that was still plenty wet. He reached in his pocket and brought out a beige star treat. "Lie back down, Pele."

Pele was quick to obey. He laid himself down and began staring strongly at the treat, resisting the urge to launch himself at it.

"Are you gonna behave for the rest of the day?" he asked.

The pokemon nodded.

The treat made its way toward the maw of the canine and was snatched up, chewed, swallowed and never seen again. Pele gave a satisfactory bark as thanks.

"Your welcome, bud."

"Well, isn't that sweet?" said Derek, making himself known.

Brian looked over and saw him sitting comfortably in his seat, radio in hand. "Only sweet until he takes advantage of my good side and… Shit, he's asleep again."

"Figures, huh?" Derek reached over and patted Pele's head. He turned his attention to the radio. "This is Derek Barolin reporting, we've finished our work at the pokemon center, requesting further instructions."

The radio was silent briefly before a staticky voice came through. "Hey, Derek. You and Brian have a pretty clean schedule for the rest of the day. It's pretty slow around here, not going to lie."

"You sure there isn't anything?"

"If you called a few minutes earlier, we caught wind of a possible two-seventeen but Ian and Damon are on that right now… Actually, hold on, give me a sec.." The voice went quiet for a few seconds then returned, "Yeah, there's something. The captain wants you to do another sweep of the Silverline, make sure you guys didn't miss anything."

"Ten-four, over and out."

"Over and out."

Derek looked over at Brian, "Well that's a shame, I was looking forward to doing nothing for a little bit." He hooked the radio back up to the console in the car.

"I bet you would, but Pele's already covering in that department," said Brian.

They had a light laugh and drove off to the Silverline, leaving the Goldenrod pokemon center behind them.

* * *

Shali had her gaze fixated on the television which was currently showing an odd sort of game where many humans were kicking a black and white ball between each other across a field. The humans were seemingly divided into two, one group wore silver shirts and another wore blue. After a team managed to kick the ball into the net of the other team, which appeared so big she couldn't believe only one person was guarding them, a large cheer erupted from the crowd watching. It was entertaining, yes, although she didn't quite understand all of it.

She had been watching for the door while Matthew showered and spotted an object that had many colourful buttons. Very much ready to break out of boredom, she tried out many of them and suddenly the once black screen filled with colour. Interested by what came on, she had sat down on the bed and started watching.

"... And it's taken by Courmarine's own Lambert Renou. Oh, this forward knows what he's doing, scoring a total of eight times during this season alone…" said a human who Shali could not see. He was always there, commenting on every human's action on the field and even he got excited when the ball was near a net.

What had convinced her to point out something that she could do? She knew even before taking her position that there wasn't going to be much, if any, action to be had here. For Sphaera's sake, Matthew wasn't even doing much, he said so himself.

"He's closing in, ready to kick it through the gap… the defenders are swarming, closing in… ready to snatch the ball up…"

It wasn't unlike her time in the tribe, after her time of patrolling the border or guarding Matthew, she would sleep, relax, maybe even train if she felt like it. What was so different here? The tribe aspect of it was gone, fine, but it was clear that he could handle himself well without her assisting in any way.

"And- Oh! Ouch! Renou takes a bad tumble to the ground from a kick to the knee! The refs have whistled and it looks like they are calling a foul on the Cyllage Steelixes. And it seems… It seems they are ruling a direct free kick to Renou here, people."

What was the point of it even? The door had been quiet ever since they got in, and if this Team Saber was as careful as Matthew described them, they wouldn't just go to their room to take him. And she even knew that before she brought up the door. Her reasoning behind her actions were unknown even to her.

"There they are, all lined up in front of the goal with Renou walking up to the ball. Does… Does he have a limp? This is going to be a very tough kick for him to make."

_Come off it, Shali. Let it go. You wanted to help him and you are. It might not be much but it's something. You're just overthinking things,_ she thought.

A light knock came from the door and her head whipped around to face it. She grabbed her spear which was laying beside her. There were real actions to be taken now.

She eased herself off the bed, keeping the spear by her side as she walked to the door. Her aura sense told her that there wasn't anything bad behind it, which helped a bit. Though aura, while true in almost any case, doesn't always give the full message. One could have a benevolent aura but still have the potential to hurt or kill.

She opened the door to a little crack and looked out. A Gardevoir was standing outside, holding her own hands by her waist patiently. Her eyes looked over.

"Hello, my name is Lilly and I'm with the pokemon center. Is your trainer here?" she said, a gentle smile emanating off her.

That word, 'trainer', almost made Shali recoil and slam the door. Maybe he was a friend, maybe he was the one she's bonded to but if for a moment Matthew refers to himself as her trainer? No, that would be it. She wouldn't be able to handle anything like that.

She remembered that look he had given her, the pleading and desperation that he was silently screaming, and resisted. She pushed the door open a bit further, "No… he's taking a shower right now."

The Gardevoir saw the spear, her eyes widening before speaking again. "Alright, then. If you could, please let him know that we are providing free check-ups for anyone who wishes to have one."

"I will, thank you." Shali kept a close eye on the Gardevoir as she closed the door again. Her aura was fine but all it would take, even if it was accidental, was just one look into her mind and Matthew could be compromised.

She walked back and sat on the bed again, setting her spear down beside her as she continued watching the game.

"He has scored a tie-breaking point, yes, but it seems that knee of his has been completely strained. I doubt if he'll even be able to play the rest of the season. Can Courmarine keep their lead without Renou? It's possible but it will _not_ be easy, I'm sure of that much," the commenting human said.

There must have been something that she missed because everyone in the audience, including the still unseen human, appeared much more saddened than she remembered it.

She heard a little click and turned toward the bathroom. The door opened slightly and Matthew poked his head out, hair dripping wet but still white. His light-skinned shoulder also peeked out, glistening with water that was falling onto the carpeted floor. In the background, Shali could still hear the shower running.

"Who was it?" he asked.

She was so surprised by his appearance that for a moment she stared. ".. I-It was a Gardevoir, Lilly, she said they were doing free check-ups if you wanted to."

He looked over at the closed curtains and shook his head. "Well, we sure as shit aren't going down there. I might just as well hang a sign over my head that says, 'Team Saber, take me!' Fucking hell. You'd think they'd be a lot more cautious about all this."

"Lilly seemed kind though, although she did-" _No, don't mention the trainer thing, it'll just get awkward,_ "-she did look at my spear a little weirdly."

"I don't think it's very customary to see a Lucario with a spear around here," he gave a little smirk, "Why, out of all days, would they choose this one, the one day I'm here, to hand out free check-ups? Unless there's like, some new disease or something- she didn't say anything like that, right?"

"No, she didn't."

"Then they know I'm here, and they're just trying to lure me into some secluded place to take me," he took a moment to place a hand on his temple, "... stupid headache… Anyway, Lilly is probably innocent to most extents. She could still be a messenger who didn't know the context of her message."

"If they know you're here, shouldn't we leave? I know you have psychic and all, and you could probably take them but…" _But what, Shali? What were you going to say?_

"They aren't going to do anything. They _can't_ do anything. If someone busts in and tries to take me, they have to deal with me, you, and pretty much anyone else who notices that something's happening."

"So we're safe?"

"Safer than we are out there," he said, taking another look to the curtains.

"The Gyaradoses still have their lead, though the Steelixes are very much keeping it on the opposite side. Any little movement could shift the balance here, this is a truly nail-biting game, people!" the television human said.

Matthew brought his head out a little further from the bathroom, craning his neck to look at the television. "Are you watching soccer? Or, I guess they call it football over in Kalos and Galar."

"I didn't know it was called that but yes, I was watching it," she suddenly realized why he was asking the question, "I'm sorry I distracted myself, I didn't respect what you said."

He waved his hand, "No biggie. I'd get bored too if I were staring at a piece of wood. I don't mind, Shali, honest." He turned his gaze over to the screen again, smiling big but almost somberly. "So soccer, huh? Are you liking it?"

Her eyes went over to the television, "I like it, though I don't understand much of it."

He nodded, "Well, I gotta get back in the shower. You can keep watching soccer if you want, just keep an ear open for the door."

"Okay."

The bathroom door closed and she directed most of her attention back to the soccer game, the rest going to the front door. She kept a close eye on the game but something was always distracting her from fully grasping what was happening. That one thought in her head repeated over and over again.

_What were you going to say, Shali?_

* * *

Derek pulled the cruiser into Silverline's parking lot and the detectives, plus a Growlithe, stepped out.

"Honestly, Pele, quit complaining. I know you hate the snow melting on your fur but this is part of the job," said Brian.

"Gr… Growl…" Pele replied, periodically shaking off as they made their way to the lobby.

Through the window they could see Jeremy at the desk, reading a book with an almost distracted look to him. Brian's memory of when he had freaked out in front of him made itself known. He had freaked out because he thought The White Hair Man was Matthew. Reminiscing about it now, it was outrageous how he had acted like that. But he was a different person now. He wouldn't let anything unnecessary get involved and… and…

"Derek?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Derek stopped walking to turn to him.

"Could you… uh.." He pointed at the doors to the lobby,

"Really?"

"I… I just can't, man. Not after last time."

His eyes went to the lobby and back to Brian. He bit his lip, "This time, yes. But not again. You said you were over your 'cold', I hope you weren't just pulling my leg there."

"I _am_ over it, alright? Can… Can we just drop it, right now?"

Derek looked away from him, staring back into the city as a sigh escaped him. "Fine, you and Pele just wait out here." He pushed the doors open, causing Jeremy to jolt up from his book.

He wasn't able to hear their conversation but he figured it was probably for the best. At a point, Jeremy looked over Derek's shoulder to see him and he had given a meek smile then turned away in shame.

"Grow.. Growlithe!" said Pele, rubbing up against his leg.

He leaned down, ruffling the head of Pele. "It's fine, bud. I'm just a little out of it."

"Lithe... Lithe.. Gro.." This attempted reassurance didn't seem to affect Pele one bit. That sixth sense of sensing conflict in a person came forth once again.

Derek walked out, "We got the go ahead, let's head over."

There was silence between them as they made their way to room six. Brian hated it, even if he knew it was caused by him. _Come on, why couldn't you have just gone with him to see Jeremy? You_ _ **are**_ _over the cold, no doubt there. Just throw your embarrassment in the toilet for once and grow a pair._

Derek took the room key out of his pocket and opened up the door. They were greeted with a much more pleasant sight. The room had been stripped of all its blood and gore, and had been washed well. There was a noticeable scent of lavender wafting around though he could still smell the death that remained. And as Pele's nose twitched uneasily, Brian knew he could smell it too. _Even if he didn't kill himself, that smell remained,_ he thought.

"I can start over in the back there, you can start looking here and we'll meet in the middle. You know, divide and conquer," said Derek, walking to the far end of the room.

"Hold up, wait," said Brian. _I can't let this stand in the way between us._

He turned around, "What is it?"

"A bet."

A bit of a goofy grin came to Derek then, and Brian felt so much better. "Really now? And what sort of details are pertaining to this bet, dear sir?" he asked sardonically.

"Simple enough, whoever finds the first piece of evidence wins."

"I figured that much, but I was referring to the 'other' details."

He shrugged, "Five hundred?"

Derek's eyebrow arched, "Five hundred each?"

"If you want to."

"Holy shit," he put his hands on his hips, shaking his head. "I'll take you up on that but I don't have that kind of money on hand."

"Neither do I but were not going to let that stop us, right?"

"I don't know, I want to hold you true to your word when I win."

"Alright, smart-ass. Game on." He went over to the bedside table and began looking over it.

"And no using Pele, that's not fair."

Brian turned, about to communicate the message to his little friend, when he saw the Growlithe already sitting obediently by the door, looking pleased with what he saw.

He opened the bedside table's drawer, nothing was there save for some lint and fluff. He knelt down and looked under the first bed, there remained a few tiny patches of dried blood and many cobwebs as well, it was like a horror movie set waiting to happen.

No, wait. Something else _was_ here. It was a little Joltik that had huddled at the head of the bed and who looked at him with its four large eyes. It squeaked its name as they made eye contact and scampered out from under the bed. Pele barked as it passed by him and out the door. _Good luck out there, tiny one._

He stood up, walking around the bed to the table that sat between the first bed and the one Derek was currently looking under. Nothing in that drawer either.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Nope, unless you count webs and dust," replied Derek, standing back up. "The guys and I combed this room pretty good the other day, so we might not find anything much."

"Sounds to me like you're giving up on the bet."

"Fat chance of that happening."

Brian turned back around over to his side of the room. Even if it was mostly bare, there _was_ something here for him to find, he could feel it. He went to the desk and pulled out its drawer, nothing except for some brochures of tourist attractions in Goldenrod. _Not many tourists right now, eh Jeremy?_ He leaned his hand against the wall, trying to get himself to think.

No dice. He took his hand off and abruptly stopped. He had brushed up against something on the wall.

_The hell?_ He ran his fingers over the piece of wall over the desk. There was a dent. A little one, for sure, but it was there. Curious, he brought the desk towards him. The back of the desk was completely hollow, the edge against the wall used for aesthetic purposes.

"Hey, Derek."

"What is it?"

"Pay up."

And behind the back of the desk, coated in grime and filth, was a rather old looking video camera.


	9. Rev[e/o]l[a/u]tions

" _I know that, whoever finds this, you're going to be surprised, scared, maybe in shock. I don't know. But you have to be calm. Whatever you do, remain_ _ **calm**_ _. Team Saber is watching, always, and they will be able to pick up on any little action you do. You should be okay in your homes and in any private residence but the second you're on the streets, it's anyone's game._

" _If you work for anything related to the police or criminal justice or whatever, please be careful. You guys are probably my best bet. If it's just one person, keep it to yourself. If it's a group, keep it that way. Restrict their internet, use wiretaps and security cameras to the extreme, I don't care. Just don't let it come from your hands."_

* * *

The camera's battery was dead, of course. However, as far as they could tell, it was still in good working condition save for a couple scratches and flaked colour on its bottom.

Derek was still skeptical even when they stopped by the retro electronics store to pick up a charger. The camera was old, very old, and the odds might not be totally in their favour should the data inside be corrupted in any way. Although, after they left for the precinct, Brian could sense a little gleam in Derek that suggested his doubt was fading.

He felt the same way although he had a shortage of uncertainty. In fact, he _knew_ this was going to work. No two ways about it. The camera had somehow fallen behind the desk and got roughed up a little bit, but that didn't matter. It would work. It would _fucking_ work.

And as he sat behind his desk, watching the little yellow light on top wink at him ceaselessly, that thought process only strengthened.

"You stare at that thing long enough and you'll go bug-eyed," said Derek.

"What are you, my mother or something?" he replied, turning his attention over to his partner.

"If I was, and knowing your history, you would've been grounded a long time ago."

He laughed, "Sames goes for you, man."

Derek waved him off, "So is it charged yet or do I have to keep snapping you out of your childish fixations every five minutes?"

"No, it's not, and also-" Brian flipped him the bird, he was flipped right back. "How could you not be excited about this? Whatever's on this camera could blow this case wide open. We could get a picture, a name, maybe even motives…"

"That's considering there even is anything on there."

"Well, don't jinx it, asshole. I'm feeling confident."

Pele mumbled in his sleep, turning himself over to his back in his makeshift bed before rolling over to the other side. Brian reached down and scratched behind the Growlithe's ear.

"Out like a light, eh?" said Derek.

"You'd think he had a power outage or something." He brought himself back up, took a glance at the camera, and then said, "So? You got the money yet?"

"No, but I bet you wish I did."

"Damn right, now c'mon, make wit' da dough," he said, putting on a mobster voice that got a chuckle out of Derek.

"Alright, let me guess… Hank 'The Blade' Dawkins? From 2015?"

"Close, I was going for Cody 'Polka' Polark from 2014."

"Oh, they practically had the same voice anyway."

"That sounds like another layer to the case to me, wanna add it to the file?" Brian asked, knowing the answer that would come.

"Big nope on my part, I'm not falling down that rabbit hole of shit and insanity again."

"Fair enough, fair enough." He leaned back in his chair, keeping his eye on the camera. A sigh escaped him, that little blip they had between each other back at the Silverline was far behind them. Boy, was he glad for that. Now, the case was all that mattered, and that was good.

"Hey, I was thinking after work we head on over to Buck's for a nice cold one, how 'bout it?" asked Derek while typing something on his computer.

Brian thought it over, Buck's was their go-to choice of a bar if they needed to wet their whistles. It was considered a bit of a dive establishment but had good clientele and fights were rather rare. Then something else spoke up in his mind and he said, "Nah, I think I'll go clean tonight."

The typing stopped, "Really?" The voice wasn't ill-willed, only surprised.

He leaned up, "Yeah, I don't know, I just.." he took a breath, "Yesterday was the most clear headed I'd ever been in awhile. I know how that sounds but it's true. Personally, I don't really want to get wasted all over again, at least not today. I kinda like how I'm feeling right now."

Derek scratched his head. "Huh. Definitely didn't think that you, of all people, would turn down something like that. Are you going fully sober?"

He shook his head, "Nah, probably not. I'll still go out with you on the occasion, but I'm off getting on a binge."

"I think I could get behind that, though that only leaves me with more money you can steal right out of my pocket."

"Maybe you should be safer with your bets."

"Well, next time I-" He was cut off by a sudden ring. His hand went into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. As he read what was on the screen his eyes went wide and then he sighed. "Sorry, gotta take this." He added, smirking, "It's the missus."

"Ah, no problem. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Derek nodded, "Yeah, well, let's hope not. The last thing I need is for Nicola to tell me that I left the stove on for the third time." He stood up and walked off to answer his phone.

Brian watched his friend go into the break room and bent down to pet Pele again, the Growlithe pushing his head up into the palm. Whether that was signify affection or the annoyance of a hand shoved at you while you were sleeping was unclear. Though, as Pele continued to snore, emitting pleased noises as he did, it revealed itself to be the former.

To think, just two days ago, he was freaking out over something he hallucinated, something he knew wasn't real. It was harsh for him to force himself to think that, yes, Matthew was dead. But it was something he had needed to accept for a long time and never gotten around to. Perhaps that's why he had kept drinking for all those years.

_Maybe, but who am I to tell? I'm no shrink, nor would I want one,_ he thought.

He looked over at the camera and got a jolt to the system. The winking yellow light had turned a solid green. Its screen glowed bright with its brand logo and then turned back to black. A smile crept to his face.

His hand went the camera and held it close. He almost didn't want to turn it on, in case there actually was nothing. But he pushed through, touching the power button to be once again greeted by the logo. It stayed only for a moment before a menu appeared before him. Only two files were on the camera and they were both dated to January 19th, which matched the date of the incident, but one of them was a few seconds while the other was four minutes.

Should he wait for Derek on this? It was his case too, after all, and he would definitely want to see what the videos held for it.

_No. I'm the one who suffered during this case, I'm the one found the camera and I'm the one who wants to solve it more._ The tone he had thought that with had a surprising amount of animosity that came with it.

Using the controls on the side, he highlighted the video that was a mere six seconds long and pressed play.

It started off rather plainly, he was given an in-your-face look of a large winter coat before the person wearing it backed up and-

_Oh Arceus… Oh fuck… Oh fuuuccckkk…_

* * *

Derek came back some time later but Brian didn't initially notice. He was staring at his monitor which still held the home screen on it, the wallpaper being of him and Pele playing in the snow. It were as though he was drifting between the boundaries of shock and comatose.

His partner's voice was what brought him back, "Hey, you alright there, Brian?"

His eyes fluttered and all of a sudden he was lost in a coughing fit. As he steadied his breathing, he saw his Growlithe was looking up at him again, giving him the look he had been haunted by for the last few days.

"Um.. U-umm.. Yeah… I just… kinda got lost in my thoughts for a second.. Sorry to freak you out." He scrambled for something to throw Derek off his scent. "S-so what did Nicola say?"

"She just called to say that she loves me. Then we went on for a few minutes, pillow talk and that sort of thing."

That didn't sound like he was telling the truth but that didn't matter because- Wait, wait, wait. A few _minutes?!_ He had been staring into space for that long?

"Enough chit-chat, let's get into that camera. It's charged, right? I'm not being fooled by that green light?" asked Derek, grabbing it off of Brian's desk.

"No, it-it's all charged."

He fiddled with the buttons in a similar manner that Brian himself did and his positive expression took a nosedive. "There's nothing here."

"Really?" said Brian, trying to be inconspicuous.

"Yeah. Shit, I guess I really did jinx it, huh?" He shrugged his shoulders and exhaled before getting a glow back in his eyes. "Maybe…"

He turned the camera over on its side and picked at a tiny tab with his fingernail to get it up. "That explains it, no SD card."

"That's… but- but that doesn't make sense. Maybe it's from someone else."

He shook his head, "Jeremy said that it's the slow season right now and he hasn't had any guests in that particular room since late november. Which makes me think someone actually took the SD card out. I don't know if it was Jeremy or someone else."

"Yeah, it sounds r-right. Hey, could you be an awesome guy and get me a coffee? I could really use one right now."

Derek nodded, "No problem and Brian?"

"Hmm?"

"I get that you were really into this case, but it's not over yet, don't get down in the dumps just because of this."

Brian smiled, it was fake but it seemed to work, "I get it, just a little bummed out."

He walked away and Brian was finally able to let go of his breath. He put his hand over his pocket, making sure it was still there. That the thin, little, square object hadn't somehow disappeared from him.

The SD card was still there.

"Growl.. Growlithe.." said Pele.

He looked down, "Hey there, little buddy. Want another treat?" He reached over to the bag of treats on his desk and took one out. "You're getting one for doing nothing, I'd say that's a good deal." He held it out to him.

But Pele didn't accept the treat, instead he gave him that look again. The look when he knew that something was wrong.

"Stop it, Pele. Or else you don't get the treat." Though, even just a few seconds after his statement and he saw Pele still giving him the look. He knew the Growlithe wouldn't stop.

* * *

_10 hours later_

She knew that this was a dream. From the moment she saw the scenery around her she knew it was so.

The walls were wood, bark actually, as they were in the hollow of the largest tree in the forest. It had a peaked entrance on either side of it and the ceiling gently tapered off to a point. There was enough room to stand but she and the rest of them there were sitting attentively.

They were all still Riolu, including herself. She was sitting between two others who she didn't know well, and didn't expect to. The one who they were all facing was none other than Elder Arphal. He sat in a meditative position, barely a gray fur to be found on him but still had all his tribal markings and personality with him.

It wasn't just a dream, it was a memory.

"Now, I want you to concentrate on my aura," he said in a warm tone, "I'm aware that some of you still may be unable to see it due to your age but I must urge you to try."

One by one, they closed their eyes and Shali followed suit. There were those who hadn't developed a strong aura sense yet but luckily enough, she wasn't among them. As soon as she focused a smidge of concentration, his aura illuminated her vision. It was a seamless palette of red and orange that made her feel calm. Oddly enough, it almost seemed too easy for her, she felt as though she hadn't even tried.

"Do you see it?" asked Arphal.

"I- I do!" shouted Kaya, "I do! I really see your aura!"

That shook her concentration and for a moment the aura disappeared but it returned full force quickly. Kaya was one of them who had never gotten a hold of aura sensing so to hear suddenly proclaim that she could now see it was interesting.

He gave a hearty chuckle, "Yes, it seems you do. Now you may open your eyes, children."

And so they did. Some gave Kaya a rude stare, most likely for causing them to lose focus, and then shifted their attention to the elder.

"I don't want any of you to be angry with Kaya for her abrupt shouting. It was her first time seeing aura, correct?"

"Yes, elder," she replied meekly.

"Do you know why she saw it this time?" he asked the entire group.

Save for the wind whistling through the hollow's entrance, only silence had responded.

Arphal spoke up, "To answer that, please concentrate on someone's aura, but not mine, and try to see it."

Shali closed her eyes again and focused on the Riolu to the right of her. It didn't come out as easily as the elder's did. Actually, it even seemed to flicker in and out of focus, it's focal point always shifting. And the longer she tried to get it back to a crisp image, the more dizzy she felt. In her practice, it had always been to look at an aura briefly and determine what it meant. Never had she looked at an aura this long and yet, when she saw the elder's there had never been this effect.

She opened her eyes and saw that she had double vision. Even while sitting, she nearly fell over and had to place her paws on the ground for balance. All around her, the Riolus had their heads in their paws or were laying down, breathing heavy and slow.

"I take that the experience was a less than pleasant one," he said. "Continue taking deep breaths until your sight clears. I can assure you it will help."

After about thirty seconds of breathing, much of which was filled by complaining due to headaches, which Shali could relate to, the group was well again.

"What did you see this time?"

"Dahinda's aura was so blurry and freaky looking!" said someone.

"Hey! Yours was too!" replied someone, presumably Dahinda.

"Was not!"

"Was so!"

"Please, children, calm yourselves. This is not the time to be fighting one another," he smiled, "I'm sure you know that sparring is tomorrow. I appreciate the spirit in both of you but it has no place here, do we understand?"

"Yes, elder," they replied in unison.

"Very good." He scanned across the group, seeing if anyone else would make any comments. When he saw no takers, he spoke. "I am certain that everyone who did indeed try their hardest to see aura found the same results as Dahinda and Rowta did. The aura being, as Rowta put it, 'freaky-looking'."

Some snickers arose but were quickly struck down by Arphal's stern yet affable look. He continued, "This is completely normal for you to see."

Shali raised her paw, "But yours was so… smooth."

"And yours will become that way as well. But you are all still children and your auras will change and fluctuate rapidly. Don't be afraid of it, every creature who has ever graced our world has gone through this phase. As you move through childhood and adolescence your aura will stabilize. You all will become the Lucario you were destined to be." He stood up, stretching his limbs. "And during this transition, a few of you may experience a greater change than others." He looked at Shali, "You will most likely be one of them."

She felt dread coming over her. What kind of change was he talking about? Was it good? Bad? Whatever it was, she wasn't looking forward to it.

It seemed the elder had picked up on her troubled state of mind. "Don't be worried, Shali. It won't affect you in any way, I promise that."

She relaxed, but only tentatively, "What is the change?"

"I take that your father hasn't told you of it yet?"

Her father hadn't told her a lot of things. He had almost always been preoccupied by tasks the tribe had given him. Even when there was free time there was never that… _connection_ between them for there to be something as genuine as a father-daughter conversation. "No, he hasn't."

"I see… Well, your father has an extraordinary aura power which he uses commonly for the benefit of our tribe. He has the ability to _bind_ aura. To diminish the power or even halt whoever he locks in on." He bowed his head in thought, "Your family was one of the few in our tribe who was blessed by Sphaera so many generations ago."

"Hey! My dad said something like that too!" a voice said.

She looked over her shoulder to see a shiny Riolu behind her. Had she been the older and more experienced version of herself that she was currently, she would have taken extra caution whenever Azen was in the same room as her. But this was the past, where she was rather blissfully unaware of who was really talking behind that child's voice of the shiny.

Arphal nodded, "Yes, Azen, your family had also been blessed alongside Shali's."

Azen jumped up, "Tell me! Tell me what cool power I have!"

"Hmm… Yes… I do suppose you wouldn't know considering circumstances," the elder said in a very low voice which Shali picked up on. Azen's parents had died due to a raid from another tribe, her own mother had perished the same way.

"Your family had gained the ability to… _resist_ anything related to aura."

"I… I don't get it.." he replied, losing enthusiasm.

"Perhaps… a demonstration will help." He beckoned Azen forward. "Rowta, you can come up as well."

Both Riolus weaved their way through the group and stood before the elder.

"Rowta, you can go over by the wall. And Azen, stand by the entrance."

They walked to their opposite sides and faced on another.

"Well, it appears sparring has come rather early. Rowta, I want you to throw an aura sphere, I don't mind how strong it is. And Azen…"

"Yes?" He listened.

"... Try to get hit by his attack."

A very loud and unanimous 'What!?' rang through the hollow, Azen's voice being the loudest among them all. Surely he was joking. He wouldn't blatantly try to get a student hurt, would he?

"Please do not get the wrong idea, children. Azen, I know it sounds very odd but I ask you to trust me for this, okay?"

Azen hesitated but nodded. "Okay."

The elder looked back over at Rowta. "Attack when you are ready."

The Riolu by the wall began charging a small, translucent, electric-blue sphere of aura. It wavered in his palms from the distress he had. Aside from a choice few, Shali was not one of them, their aura spheres as they were now were not condensed attacks of energy but rather a brief light show. That's not to say damage couldn't be done but it would be the equivalent of a slight punch.

Rowta took a last hesitant glance over to Arphal, and was given a nod of confirmation. Azen closed his eyes tight. The anticipation was wearing away at everyone. Shali could hardly keep her eyes on it.

The aura sphere left Rowta's palms like an arrow, carving its way through the air and focused like a laser beam on its target. It hit. A bright light followed by an explosion that echoed through the hollow and pained their ears.

But as they could all see, Azen was apparently unscathed.

The shiny opened his eyes and frantically looked over his body. His search found nothing. He was completely fine. "It… It didn't even hurt…"

"This is what your aura resistance does. It is an ability that prevents any damage that anything related to aura causes to you," said Arphal, nodding.

He looked at his paw and formed an aura sphere in it. "So… aura doesn't hurt me?"

"That… is correct, Azen. You can sit down now."

At this point in the memory, Azen would cease his aura sphere, and sit down and the lesson would carry on for a little while longer.

But that didn't happen. Instead the aura sphere got bigger and bigger. It emitted ghostly forks of blue light not unlike lightning. Now it was nearly impossibly big, too big for a meager Riolu, even for one as strong as Azen.

No, the memory had deviated now.

"I'm not sitting down," said Azen. He fired the sphere, faster than any Shali had seen before. It hit Rowta square in the chest, flinging him against the wall. He slid down and lay limp on the floor.

The dream was now a nightmare.

"Azen! Stop!" shouted Arphal. In an instant, he was over on the shiny, pushing him to the ground and holding his arms down.

The Riolu's eyes narrowed in a death stare. A blinding white light engulfed Azen and he turned into a Lucario. A stark, crazy smile took over. "You can't stop me, old man."

Azen's arm glowed white and sent Arphal reeling with a sky uppercut. The elder flew up and hit the ceiling of the hollow. He came back down in a crash, kicking up dust around where he laid.

Panic had set in now, everyone was scrambling around each other to get to the exit. Shali was one of the few managing to keep ahead of the crowd.

Unfortunately, that meant she was one of the first to nearly run into the now towering Azen.

The Lucario charged two aura spheres and fired them at the two Riolu in front of Shali. Both of them were blasted back and smashed against the bark, sharp cracks ringed through the hollow.

She felt the fear freeze her in place. Azen moved forward, the echoes of his steps boomed like thunder. He reached down and closed his hand around Shali's throat, effectively cutting off the airflow. She thrashed in the grip, desperate to get that one, even infinitesimally small breath of air. But she couldn't.

Leaning down, the shiny Lucario spoke in a growl. Coarse but all the more lucid. "Mine," he said.

In his spare hand, he formed an aura sphere. This one the big one he had killed Rowta with.

The light was blinding but she couldn't look away. It got bigger and bigger and bigger.

"You. Are. Mine."

He fired the sphere, and then…

* * *

Then she was awake, staring at the ceiling of her and Matthew's hotel room.

She was breathing. There was no chokehold on her. Actually… she felt like _she_ was the one choking something. Her eyes darted left, and saw the deathgrip on her spear, which she had put beside her bed when she began sleeping.

Beyond that was Matthew, who hadn't woken up. His sleep seemed to be deep and dreamless. Oh, how she envied that.

They were on separate beds, Matthew choosing to take the bed closest to the door. It was odd to Shali, sleeping on a bed. She had spent her entire life resting essentially wherever she could. It wasn't bad to her, that was just how she grew up. Suddenly transferring over to a bed was, much like the soccer game, interesting. Not necessarily good or bad, just interesting.

Before she had gone to sleep, she had the idea to sleep with Matthew. Surely, considering it was terribly cold outside, he would be shivering through the night much like he had been the last few days. Yet, before she could even give a second thought, he was dozing.

He was still in that same position now. His white hair was splayed over the pillow. He didn't even bother drawing the comforter or a blanket over his body, which was still fully clothed.

_Mine._

She gave her head a shake, trying to get that voice out. It was only a nightmare after all. Nothing in there was real or could hurt her.

_Right. That's right. I'm okay,_ she thought. But that didn't quite convince her. That memory was so clear and vivid, even the monstrous turn it exhibited didn't seem to stray too far from the realm of possibility.

_You. Are. Mine._

Her paws were shaking. Not noticeable at first, she became increasingly irritated by it. Even with the safety of the spear in her hand they still shook. She laid her paws in front of her, laying the spear across her lap. She looked at them, perhaps trying to stare them down into conformity.

Not much to her surprise, they didn't comply. If anything, it got worse.

What was she missing?

She kept looking at her paws and noticed the symbol on her right one. Then she saw the one on Matthew's.

_To respect and_ _ **care**_ _._ That was one of the vows they had done together. And in the forest, they promised each other they would follow them.

She put the spear aside and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She looked at her symbol, then at the paw that bore it. It was still shaking. She pushed forward and moved it towards Matthew's.

Two inches away from his hand, she stopped. Was this wrong? Should she just wake Matthew up and tell him what she wanted? He had been relatively understanding so far… would he even mind if she did it anyway? And she didn't want to ruin his sleep after he had gotten so little of it over yesterday and the day before…

Her paw moved forward and ate up the last two inches. They connected. It was so simple, her paw laid on top of his, not even squeezing in the slightest bit. But for whatever reason, her shaking stopped. Almost too abrupt for the comfort to set in.

Though she didn't need to, she slowly began closing her paw around Matthew's. That feeling of completeness, it pushed all the thoughts of Azen out.

She looked at him. He was sleeping soundly away, no hint of awakening any time soon. His aura was similar. It was calm, serene, not worrying about whatever would happen next. How he could be this way with the threat of Team Saber over him she would never understand.

But that didn't mean all of his aura was uniform to that nature. Neo's little portion of instability. Albeit calmer than usual, it still gave her unease whenever she saw it.

"What? Am I really that unattractive?" a voice suddenly spoke.

Shali jumped. The shaking was back.

She had seen Neo physically only once before. But back then, Matthew had been aware of it, and he had a good grip on the situation. Now he was asleep, and she was seeing his twin she never wanted to see. At the base of Matthew's bed he stood.

And he was gone. Poof. Nowhere to be seen.

She looked back and around for any sign. Nothing. Her eyes rested on her paw, which was now disconnected from Matthew's hand. She reached back over, hands shaking even more vehemently than before and reconnected.

Just like that, Neo returned, arms folded across his chest, wearing a peculiar smile.

"You shouldn't be so scared. You saw me before, I couldn't do anything then. What would I do now?" he said.

Her thoughts, scattered with the presence of Neo, were nevertheless coherent enough to understand the logic of the situation. He was right. But she wasn't about to trust him so quickly.

"Why are you here?" she asked quietly, keeping a firm grip on Matthew. Ready to squeeze hard enough for him to wake should she need to.

Neo paused for a few seconds before speaking again. "I'm always here, you should know that. You've been keeping tabs on me. I'd be almost flattered if it weren't for the fact that you absolutely hate me."

Shali growled, "Yeah, you're right. I do, and nothing is going to change that."

He shrugged, "Well, it's not like I can change your opinion anytime soon. I'm pretty sure you'd tune me out pretty damn quick. Can I ask why though?"

"You're garbage. Your aura is wrong, it shouldn't exist at all. I don't know what brought you into this world but it can go burn in hell. The world wouldn't lose anything if you disappeared," she spat, then made herself stop. She was getting too loud. Matthew might hear.

Neo smirked, let loose a brief giggle, and burst out laughing. "Oh! Oh my Arceus, you are _terrible_ at lying!" He went on for quite awhile, doubling over and almost falling on his knees. His laughter tapered off eventually, although the attempts Neo made at speech afterward were plagued by the resonate murmurs of hilarity. "That's a l-little harsh, sorry. Heh. But it's more of not telling the whole truth."

She bared her teeth, toxicity ready to pour out. But she stopped herself. Neo was right. She hadn't told everything… but how did _he_ know that?

"Come on, Matthew's psychic and I'm always with him. You haven't made the connection?" Neo said, almost sounding smarmy.

Just like that, she instinctively used her aura bind but only directly at that little piece of Matthew.

Visually, there wasn't much change in the posture of Neo but he was locked in, there would be no more mind reading for him to do. That smile though. He still had the fucking smile.

"If you read another word in my head, and it'll be the last thing you do," she said, low but dead serious.

"You don't want me in Matthew's aura because it's the only thing stopping you from liking him."

She was perplexed, "That's not true, I like him. He's my friend."

Neo giggled, "Right. Sure." He unfolded his arms and gave a scratch on the back of his head. "Look, I might appear and sound like Matthew but I can assure you, I am possibly the furthest thing from him. Don't let your perception of me affect him."

Her confusion deepened, what in the world was he talking about? She knew from the get-go that Matthew and Neo were different. The spectral twin had said as much. She still liked him, but what did that have to do with anything? Did even matter if she liked him or not? He was her friend and that-

_Oh. Oh, no. He can't possibly mean…_

"No, You're wrong, he's my friend, and only to that point."

Neo smirked, "Whoa, hey, I'm not trying to accuse you of anything."

_You fucking liar,_ she thought.

"Leave, Neo."

"Alright," he said. He turned around and began fading into transparency. He became opaque again suddenly, "But one more thing. You might want to tell Matthew whatever you were going to say sooner rather than later. I have a feeling once he picks up momentum it's gonna be hard to stop him." Then he was gone.

"Hmm.. Shali? W-Why're you up and… Jeez.. Are you trying to take my hand off with that grip?" muttered a tired voice.

She pried her sight from where Neo once was and saw Matthew, eyes barely peeking out, looking at her. A little lower, she realized her paw was squeezing so hard that his hand had turned white.

"S-sorry." Her paw eased and a healthy pink returned. The thought of letting go came to mind. The thought of the continuous shaking did too. Like that, they still remained connected. "I had a nightmare."

"Oh, shit," he said quietly. His eyes opened a bit more and he sat up in his bed. He ran his fingers through his hair. "You okay?"

A smile, regardless of how small it was, came to her. "Yes, I am."

He nodded understandingly, "Alright, that's good. Did… you want to talk about it?"

She briefly considered it, then said, "No, I think I'll be fine." And in part, that was true. The way his hand was on her paw, she was fine.

"Fair enough," said Matthew. He sat forward a bit more, "So… are you gonna keep holding my hand or something?"

Again she loosened her grip, and the brief tremor in her paw she felt made her tighten it back up. Her smile quivered, "I-if you don't mind… I kind of want to.."

He replied with a simple hand wave, "No problem. Anything you need, I'm here."

Shali's smile came back up to full strength, "Thank you."

They were connected for a long while.

* * *

Brian looked at the SD card in his hand.

_For the love of Arceus, just put the fucking thing in,_ he thought.

He had no idea how long he had been sitting in front of his laptop, the debate whether or not to place this evidence, this _stolen_ evidence, had been going on for so much longer than he wanted it to. The light of the crescent moon shined in his bedroom, illuminating the computer and the desk it sat upon.

The fact that it was stolen was really more of a footnote in the grand scheme of things. It was just… did he _really_ want to see Matthew again?

_Of course you do. What did you spend seven years of your life doing?_

Sure, that was all too true. But he had moved on, it may have taken some time but it had happened. Whenever he involved himself in anything related to Matthew, it had dragged him down. The scary thing was that whatever Matthew had on here would inevitably lead him down the path that he had briefly treaded across. If a few seconds of video caused this much havoc for him, what could four minutes do?

_Does it matter? Realizing you could never find Matthew was the thing that sparked those tendencies._

That was true. But guess what? Realizing Matthew was and most likely still is out there re-sparked them. Damnit, Matthew was a friend but he could have lived without knowing he was still alive.

_How can you even say that? Maybe you want to live your life but it's never going to change what you've found._

Sure. It might change, yes, but ultimately it was for the best.

_Really? You really think that? Is the constant pressure that Matthew is alive really not going to affect you?_

No, he wouldn't let it… This stupid SD card, it was _not_ worth the trouble of all this. What was even the point except the fact that Matthew was on it… And he probably talked too… And…

Fuck.

He slid the SD card into the little slot and secured it's position with a small click. The computer gave a little jingle and the device icon appeared on his home screen. He moved the cursor over the icon, highlighting it and then put his head in his hands.

"Shit… Just do it, Brian," he told himself. His hands clenched into fists and then relaxed again.

He clicked the mouse twice and it opened up with a display of folder labelled 'videos'. Clicking that led to the two files he had seen before, instead of run time, he could see one had taken up much more memory.

"Arceus, help me."

He pulled the cursor over the larger file and clicked it. The video player opened, buffered, and began playing.

It started off very much the same as the smaller video. A closeup of the parka, Matthew backing off and eventually sitting on the bed.

"My name… is Matthew Elgin Alexander and… I guess I'm supposed to be dead. At least that's what everybody has been thinking for the past six years…" said Matthew.

_Arceus, he even fucking sounds the same._

"Well I'm not. And whoever group or person finds this video, don't show it to anyone else. Trust me with this, the things that I am about to share are never to be spoken about openly. You'll see why."

_Please, Matthew. Please tell me this is worth it._

* * *

He was numb. But anyone would be while watching the video. Four minutes suddenly felt like hours as Matthew told him that every single thing that happened around could just be the byproduct of some clandestine organization he had never heard of. Team Saber? Neo-humans? What the fuck. What the actual fuck. He could barely keep his eyes on the screen. It didn't help that Matthew had white hair, apparently had psychic powers and a fucking alternate personality, yet was talking as smoothly and calmly as he was. The only fuel he had was the desire to learn more. The desire that entailed this relentless, almost masochistic, ball of initiating madness growing in his head.

"I have to repeat myself… Please, do not take this video public... For your sake and mine, please don't…"

He found himself unconsciously nodding at this statement. It was almost as if he had entered a semi-hypnotic state, simply going along with whatever Matthew said.

Then Matthew reached into his bag. Brian knew what it was even before he saw it. It still caused him to suck in his breath when he saw the black muzzle of the pistol.

"I… I have to do this to attract people, okay? Others don't know about my ability and if I just fire randomly… it'll blow over fast. People will come, the police might too… Hopefully _someone_ will find this… Someone not with _them_."

Again, he nodded. But it was becoming too much, too much to handle now.

As though answering his prayers, the recording abruptly stopped.

He immediately got up and grabbed his phone. He went to the phone app and called the number at the top of his list. It rang for a very long time before he eventually got an answer.

"Hello?" a very exhausted voice said. He only now realized that it was ten at night.

"Derek, you still good to go to Buck's?" he asked, quick and blankly.

"Brian… It's so late, man… We'll go tomorrow."

"Tonight. I'm going right now. If you wanna come, go ahead."

There was a brief silence, letting Brian hear his own heavy breathing.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked.

He tensed, "Yes… Yes, I'm fine. And I'm going. Are you?"

Another silence, "Yeah… I'll be there. But you pay for my first two drinks as payment for stealing my five hundred."

"Fine. See you there."

He hung up, stuffed his phone in his pocket and headed out of his bedroom. His only stop was in the kitchen where he had hung his coat on one of his chairs. Before long, he was ready to walk right out the front door.

But Pele was standing in front of him.

Despite some lights being on, most of the house was still dark. This didn't hinder Brian from seeing the Growlithe's shiny black eyes, nor that look, that _fucking_ look, which he was giving him.

"Move out of the way, Pele," he said.

Of course he didn't move.

He took a few steps forward, testing the waters to see if Pele would actually physically try to stop him. He doubted it but was nonetheless careful.

"I'm leaving, buddy. I'll be going to Buck's with Derek. Probably home around midnight."

Pele didn't respond, he only continued to stare.

_He's not going to attack me._

He moved forward, stretching his arm over Pele and opening the door. It swung halfway out before smacking against the backside of a particular Growlithe.

_He's just trying to stop me._

He sighed and bent down. He took Pele into his arms, feeling no resistance from the canine, and set him down behind him.

_I'm sorry, buddy._

The door opened fully this time. He stepped through, looked back briefly, felt remorse, and shut the door, sealing the house.

In the darkness, Pele sat, unmoving of where Brian had placed him. He whined, wishing Brian had listened to him. _What are you doing, Brian? I don't even know this Matthew but he couldn't have wanted you to do this, right?_ he thought.

The car outside started with a low grumble. Pele hung his head in failure.


	10. Diu Amicus

" _Don't try to find me, please._

" _There is nothing I want more than to be able to say, 'No one else is going to be affected by this.' If someone gets hurt… or even dies, I… I don't know what I would do._

" _But I understand that there are people out there that I might not be able to say 'no' to. I hope that I don't run into them, they don't deserve to get their lives entangled with one like mine, one with so much weight on it already that it always feels like it's collapsing._

" _...But in the chance that I_ _ **do**_ _run into you, and you_ _ **are**_ _one of those people…_

" _Then we have to be willing to work with each other."_

* * *

Matthew's eyes opened slowly to the world around him. For a moment, and a moment only, he saw the ceiling of the Deity Lab. The cold unforgiving metal which he had peered up at for seven years of his life.

But the moment passed, and it was just the beige ceiling of the room he was in.

He sat up, stretching his limbs and feeling the warmth around him. His hand went over to his face and rubbed against it, trying to wake himself up further. Today would be the day he finally made more progress, he needed to be at peak performance if he wanted to teleport himself _and_ Shali, seeing as that neither of them intended on leaving each other's side any time soon.

Remembering last night's turn of events, he looked over at the Lucario. Shali was laying down on the bed, no blankets were covering her but she was asleep all the same. Her spear was lightly grasped in the hand nearest him.

Whatever nightmare she may have had, it seemed to have left her for the time being. And with that fact came a tired, early-morning grin for Matthew.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood himself up, feeling his back crack as he did so. From the closed curtains, a few rays of orange sunlight burned through and softly lit the room up. The subtle beauty of it was almost enough for him to take a look at the sky outside. Of course, he knew he couldn't.

He reached down and grabbed his shirt. Putting it on, he felt the well-sized hole in its back and made a reminder to himself to get a new one as soon as possible. Using this one anymore would not be helping his situation one bit.

Although this time, he would buy it with the money he had. He wanted to think that he shouldn't need to do anymore stealing from here on out, but deep down he knew it wasn't true. It might be possible in the future but until that day, it seemed he needed to continue this way.

His eyes drifted back over to the sleeping Lucario. Shali never openly said that she was against him stealing things, but he could tell that she also never really approved of him doing it either.

Shali's eyes opened and her legs stretched out along the length of the bed.

"Well, good morning to you," said Matthew, feeling a yawn take him as he enunciated the last syllables.

She leaned her spear against the wall and put her feet on the floor before replying. "Yes, good morning, Matthew," she said, putting her paws on her knees and quickly standing up, "About last night, I'm sorry that I went ahead and-"

"Shali, really, it's fine," he scratched the back of his head, "Whatever happened last night, it's no big deal. I mean, you _are_ fine, right, Shali?"

Her head angled down slightly, "Yes, I suppose so."

He shrugged, "I don't really mind helping you if I can, so don't worry about it."

She pulled her head back up and gave a small smile, "I get it, Matthew." Her mouth made the motion of wanting to say something more, but she caught it and went silent.

Matthew pondered on the move for a bit before turning the conversation back to the task at hand. "We're gonna head off today, probably Cianwood or Olivine next, they're a little less populous than Goldenrod. And after all I've gone through just to get one message out, that seems to be exactly what I need."

Shali looked confused, "Walking there will take a while, I was under the impression you needed to get there quick."

"We're not walking or anything, I'm going to teleport us there."

She squinted at him, looking dubious. "Can you actually teleport others with you?"

"I mean, I've done it before. What, did you think I would abandon you or something?"

She smirked, "You know damn well I wouldn't let you get away with that."

Matthew grinned widely at that, "Knowing you, I'd get there and two seconds later I'd get the sharp end of your spear at the back of my head." He shook his head and reminded himself what needed to be told. "At about midday, we'll check out of here and walk back to the forest. It's far enough away and secluded enough so that there shouldn't be anyone of concern watching us."

"And I suppose you can't simply teleport out of here because..?"

"Because of the psychic barrier that prevents anyone from teleporting in or out of the Pokemon center. Annoying for me, sure, but they need it."

Shali grabbed her spear and set the butt on the floor. "In any case," she thumbed the tip of her weapon, "what are we going to do in terms of breakfast?"

Matthew was surprised; he didn't expect the question. "I guess we order room service then. Of course, that's if you feel fine with opening the door again," he said sardonically

"With such a strenuous task, you are certainly asking a lot from me," she replied in like.

"Oh, I know, Shali. But if at all possible, would you be able to subject yourself to just a few seconds of really boring torment?"

She broke their back-and-forth and waved him off, giggling as she did so. "I don't really mind helping you if I can, so don't worry about it," she echoed.

"Thanks, Shali," he talked normally this time, "I mean that one hundred percent."

* * *

The numbness that Brian was currently experiencing was not a complete stranger to him.

It was the type of numbness that only came when one was in a state of complete and utter disbelief. The idea that there was absolutely no way something was true or that nothing else was true except what you believed in. When in the numbness, it was hard to even graze off-topic for a single moment.

Yes, he had experienced this before, approximately thirteen years ago.

_How ironic,_ he thought feebly, _Now it's because Matthew's actually_ _ **not**_ _gone._

He was at his desk, hunched over and looking aimlessly at his computer monitor. It was about ten in the morning but it still felt like the sun had just peeked over the horizon. His eyes were prone to unsuspectingly droop down in fatigue but he caught it every time. The numbness was so strong that he could barely feel the hangover that he most definitely had.

From what he could remember about the night before was hazy at best and completely blank at worst. He knew for certain that he had too much to drink and that Derek had most likely driven him home and led him into the house, which would explain why he awoke, facedown, on the couch.

As far as he knew, he didn't think he had said anything about Matthew.

But Derek wasn't here yet. Why? Brian didn't know. Maybe he had told Derek and he was just getting the Men in White Coats ready to take Brian away to some asylum.

_And considering the utter mindfuck I experienced last night, that might not be the craziest idea._

He looked down beside him. Pele was there, as he should be, sleeping. Arceus, he still felt like shit for leaving him in the house like that. All because he couldn't keep it together.

_You stupid alcoholic, would it have been so hard for you just to take a few breaths and think for once?_ No, it wouldn't have been. He was responsible for his own actions. And this time he let it get away from him.

What the hell was he going to do now? He needed to get to Matthew, that was a certainty. But what of that? It was very unlikely that Matthew was even still around here anymore. The video said he needed to get the message out to others, no point in sticking around in one place. There was no telling where he was going next. If he really was psychic, he could teleport the other side of the world if he wanted to.

Unless…

Matthew was the one who he and Derek were trying to find, the one who 'attempted suicide'. And if he had followed the same trail as the supposed guy they were tailing, there was a very strong possibility he had something to do with the crater in the middle of the Trench. Continuing on from that, there was ambiguity over what may have happened. Derek had thought that the guy would go to the pokemon center to lay low and although it sounded reasonable enough, Brian was almost certain he wasn't accounting for the chance that the guy might be fucking psychic.

But overall, there weren't many other options for him to look into. The pokemon center was the only viable one he had. There was the trap they had there with the check-ups. Maybe Matthew went for it, maybe not. Maybe he wasn't even there in the first place but he had to try.

He glanced up, officers were walking around the office space with paperwork and other supplies, and still no Derek.

_I don't know what's keeping you, but I'm going._

He felt pins and needles tingle under his skin as he stood up, still a little groggy from the hangover. It would leave soon, hopefully, he needed to look at least a little discreet when he arrived at the pokemon center.

A small yawn came from beside him. Pele opened his little black eyes and stretched his limbs to the limits of his cardboard bed. After that, he settled back and gave Brian the same look.

To his surprise, he was able to resist it this time. And without skipping a beat, he said, "Come on, Pele. We got somewhere to go."

At this, Pele tilted his head in confusion and stood up. "Groww… Grrowlithe?"

"We're going to the pokemon center. Checking up on whatever might have happened and whatnot." He grabbed the coat from off his chair and threw it over himself.

As he began walking down the corridor of desks, quick pattering steps were behind him and before long, Pele was walking alongside him.

* * *

They reached the car and Brian opened the passenger side door, letting Pele hop in and settle down into the seat. He made his way back over to his side and slid into his own seat.

From the side, he could still feel Pele's eyes burning into him. He let out a sigh, "I'm sorry about yesterday, bud. I just… No… No, there's no excuse for what I did."

He reached his hand over the central console and gave a few pets to the Growlithe's head. "I know you're worried, and that you want me to open up about what's happening and everything but… I'm not ready for that yet. Depending on what happens today, I might, but just not now."

Brian wasn't exactly sure how Pele would respond to that, but when he felt a few light licks on his hand, he cracked a tiny smile.

"Thanks, Pele. I-I really needed that. Let's get outta here already."

With that, Brian turned the key in the ignition and the car drove off from the 28th precinct.

* * *

He stopped the cruiser in front of the pokemon center and stepped out into the chilly wind. It was a lot colder today, nothing unbearable but he knew that the less time he spent out in the open the better.

His feet compressed and nearly slipped on the fresh snow as he made his way over to the passenger door and let Pele out.

The Growlithe slipped out and landed in the snow, causing a miniature flurry to be blown up and sent bits of cottony snow into his face. He shook them off and uttered a few annoyed barks.

At the sight of this, another smile formed on Brian's face. He bent down and brushed off the remaining snow that hadn't melted on Pele's fur.

"Silly Growlithe," he said. He stood straight and walked into the center, Pele in tow.

The foot traffic was comparably less than yesterday as it was lunchtime, most trainers arrived or left in the earlier or later times of the day. That was good. If there was one thing he didn't need, it was those standoffish looks he was given yesterday.

He caught Nurse Joy's eyes as he was halfway to her. She nodded and stood up.

"Hello again, Detective Elliott. Should we step in the back for the..?" she said, looking over at the scattered trainers hanging around.

"That would be appropriate, yes," he replied, nodding.

She turned and walked through the door to the back. Brian trailed behind, taking one last glance at the people still in the lobby. No one was paying attention.

But he remembered something from Matthew's video. Team Saber was everywhere. In plain sight and complete seclusion. Did he think that someone from Team Saber was here, right now? No, he never really got the feeling that was true. But that didn't halt his suspicion one bit.

In spite of this, he continued walking into the back and stood behind Nurse Joy who had sat down at a computer that had a large spreadsheet open on its monitor. Several names had a red block next to them while only a few had a green block.

"Am I correct in assuming the red is for those who didn't do the check-up?" he asked, seeing her head nod even before he finished speaking.

"I'm sorry Detective but it seemed not many were keen about it. Lilly said that she received many skeptical looks yesterday."

"You don't have to be sorry, I had an idea that this would happen. How about the ones that did? What's the status on that?"

"Everyone who came down completed the full check-up, but none of them matched the blood you brought in."

He leaned down and scratched Pele's ear, who had just settled down on the floor and was preparing to sleep. The Growlithe hummed pleasured sounds and rolled over onto his back. "And for those who didn't do the check-up, how many of them are still here?"

She paused for a moment and then typed a few commands on the keyboard, blacking out about two-thirds of the list. "Many trainers leave early this time of year. They want to get as far as they can before nighttime."

"Yes, that's understandable. Would you be able to spare a moment? I need to write down these names and their room numbers if possible." He took out his notepad and pen.

"Are you… going to arrest them?" she asked tentatively.

He gave a reassuring look, "Nurse Joy, unless someone is breaking the law or has claimed they have broken the law, I will not arrest them. I only need to ask them a few questions and then I'll leave them to be about their business. Nothing more than that."

She looked to Brian, then to the screen and back again. "O-Okay. Would you like me to print it out?"

He grinned softly, "Yes, that would be very helpful, thank you."

After one click of the mouse and the steady whine of the printer etching away, he had the paper spreadsheet in hand.

There was a name that caught his eye. In between two blacked out lines there was the text, 'Jackson Bullock'. A thought came to him. _Jackson. Huh. Kinda sounds like Jacob…_

Jacob Reynolds had been Matthew's supposed alias at the Silverline. It was a minor correlation, nothing more than the same first three letters, but Brian couldn't shake the idea that it might actually be Matthew.

He thanked Nurse Joy again and went down to pick Pele up, holding the Growlithe to his chest.

As he went through the doorway into the lobby, he looked down to his little partner and said, "Alright, bud. I got some door-to-door action to get on with. Did you wanna stay in the car or should I drag you along with me?"

Pele turned his head up and pointed his nose outside, towards the car. "Lithe.. Growlithe!"

"Alright, alright, I get it," he said, scratching Pele's head.

He walked out of the center, opened the passenger door to the cruiser, and set Pele down onto the seat. The Growlithe gave a little yawn before curling into a fluffy ball and settling.

Brian looked at Pele once more and shut the door. He turned and walked back into the center.

"Jacob… Jackson… whatever," he muttered to himself, "I'm here to find Matthew, not anyone else."

* * *

Shali was sitting on the bed again, the television wasn't tuned to soccer as it was yesterday. Matthew had gone into the bathroom and said that his head was aching. She had sensed that he hadn't told her the full truth but decided not to pursue it. He had caught on earlier that she wanted to speak further, but didn't push for it either. Reciprocating the respect seemed only natural.

Even so, she regretted not talking to him about it. About the fact that she could barely fall back asleep without her nagging thoughts pushing her out of the somnolent state.

None of the thoughts were particularly negative, only irritating in the sense that they were relentless in their pursuit to get her to think. It was just something about how Matthew's hand felt on her paw, the sense of assurance that came with it. She had been scared before and holding his hand had helped, it made sense. So why was she still stuck on it then?

Neo. That was why. Him and those stupid mind games he was playing on her. She had fallen into the trap he had laid out in plain sight. And the very idea that he had sown into her mind, that there was more than just friendship with Matthew, was the most troubling aspect of it.

_What were you going to say, Shali?_

Wrong. _That_ question was the most troubling aspect of the ordeal. The fact that she didn't know what she was going to say, but Neo did. _And with that being said… is that why Neo brought up Matthew and I's bond in the first place?_ She felt a tiny lump form in her throat.

A hard knock at the door snapped her out of her thoughts. She quickly snagged her spear and ran over to answer it, as though afraid to slip back into that cycle of thinking again.

She opened the door and saw a tall figure, cloaked in a thick winter coat that made him appear much bigger than he actually was. His oak hair was rather messy but that didn't take away the authoritative aura he appeared to exert.

"Umm.. Hello there," he said, giving a small grin, "My name is Detective Brian Elliott. Could I possibly speak to your trainer…" he glanced at his paper, shivered, than said, "Jackson. Could I speak with him, please?"

There it was again. That stupid word, 'trainer'. As though she needed to be trained by another in order to become strong. She pushed the thoughts aside. There was a bit of confusion as she remembered that Jackson was the name that Matthew gave. "No, sorry. He… can't come right now."

"Oh, wait, could you repeat that please? I can kinda understand you but it has to be slow," he replied.

She was confused until she realized that this human wasn't like Matthew. The one before her couldn't understand her speech as well as he could. She spoke crisp and slow, "No. He cannot come right now."

There was a pause as the human looked up in thought. "He can't come right now… That's what you said, right? Just nod if you did."

She nodded, starting to close the door. It was stopped and shoved a bit more open from the human's hand.

"Hey, wait. I have patience, I'll wait for him," he said, peeking into the room. "Could I please come in?"

Shali was astounded at what this human was doing. It seemed so unreasonably frantic compared to the aura she had sensed before hand. And yet, there was something more that she could see now, the slight layering of fear and anticipation. Whoever this human was, there had to be a big reason as to why he wanted to see Matthew.

"You cannot come in," she said clearly, and attempted to close the door again.

The human forcefully pushed the door, harder than before and she was thrown off balance. On instinct, her spear swung upward and stopped mere inches from the human's throat.

"Matthew!" she cried, jerking her head to the bathroom. The situation was going downhill fast, she needed help with this.

"Hey, hey, calm down. I'm not trying to hurt you," he said calmly, holding his hands up. "I just want to talk to your trainer."

At the mention of that hated word, her arms tensed and the spear moved an inch closer. She whipped her head back around, her eyes lit with the tension the situation possessed.

"Matthew!" she yelled again.

* * *

He gently massaged his temples, breathing slow to help the migraine pass faster. His eye contact remained on his reflection in the mirror as he found that focusing on one point helped to ease the strain on his head.

While this migraine wasn't nearly as bad as others he had experienced, it was drawn out like a lingering motion sickness. But as soon as he got through it, they would leave Goldenrod and teleport over to Cianwood City. And when they got there, there wouldn't be any screwing around after he got the message out. That would be it, and then he and Shali would go onto another city.

Shali had never objected to the motion of leaving, aside from the dubious remark on his ability to teleport, and that made him somewhat unsure of their situation. He knew that the bond they shared had some sort of weight that she definitely felt even if he didn't.

He looked at his marking and sighed, still keeping a set of fingers working on his forehead. _Arceus, I really hope I'm not forcing her into this. She's my friend but she doesn't need to follow me if she doesn't want to,_ he thought.

"Well, I've followed you for a number of years and I can firmly say that I don't want to follow you," a voice said that he recognized as his own, "But I guess that's not my choice."

His eyes went back over to the mirror, increasing the intensity of his rubbing as he knew the migraine would be kicked up a notch when Neo came out.

Sure enough, he cringed as the pain grew worse, and felt the presence next to him like a cold spot in the ocean.

"Neo, fuck off. I don't need you in my head right now," he said, putting a bit more effort into his finger-work so his headache would go away quicker.

The twin moved around and put himself between the mirror and Matthew. He smiled, "It just sounded to me that you feel like you're in a moral dilemma."

Matthew ignored him, turning on the faucet to splash some cool water onto his face.

"I'm just saying, Shali has her reasons for going with you."

Matthew felt a spark of anger and stared at Neo. "Excuse me? How do you know that? Did you read her mind?"

Neo shrugged it off, giving Matthew a wicked look. "I mean, she was basically reading off a script when you caught her holding your hand last night. But hey, a little confirmation never hurt anyone."

"Neo, I swear to Arceus-"

"Matthew!"

Shali's voice came from outside and briefly, Matthew forgot Neo was even in talking to him. He rushed over to the door and almost burst out before thinking of the possibility of who was out there.

"Hey, hey, calm down. I'm not trying to hurt you. I just want to talk to your trainer," another voice said. It sounded male and human, maybe about ten years older than he was. There didn't seem to be any malice in his tone, but Matthew had been deceived before.

Again, Shali yelled, "Matthew!"

He carefully opened the door a crack and took in the scene. Shali was in a defensive posture, her spear seemingly against the throat of whoever had come to aggravate her. The person who had his hands up was tall, had a winter coat and messy brown hair. Matthew had never seen this person before and yet there was something so familiar that it was almost uncanny.

"Huh, well isn't that something," said Neo, making himself known to Matthew again, much to his dismay.

_Oh yeah? What about it?_ he asked, shifting to speaking through thought. He was trying to figure out what the course of action would be. Shali was most likely fine for the time being but he needed to intervene soon or else there could be bloodshed.

"This guy's in the police, one of the best detectives apparently," said Neo.

_Neo, stop reading his mind right now,_ he said, but he couldn't help thinking about what kind of mess he had gotten himself into considering that the _police_ had gotten involved. He recalled the Silverline, how his room must have looked like after he pulled the trigger. He had been sloppy, of course, that's how they found him.

"Even more interesting," Neo continued, "He has a drinking problem, he just got off of a binge last night."

_Neo, stop. You are going too far with this._ He didn't need to get involved with this detective's personal life, all he wanted was just to diffuse the situation and get out of the pokemon center.

"Well now…" Neo whispered.

_What? You better not have read any more of his mind._

"I did, and I think you'll find this rather pertinent to you."

_Don't bother. I don't want to hear it._

"This detective has a certain missing friend named Matthew. He came here to try and find him."

His whole body froze, time seemingly at a standstill. What he had heard from Neo… it couldn't possibly true. There must have been something he had missed. There _had_ to be something that he had missed.

_No. I heard everything crystal clear._

With a shaky hand, he pushed the door open a tiny bit more and looked closely at the figure. The face suddenly became drastically familiar as a flood of nostalgic and warm memories flooded his thoughts.

Walking to and from school with him.

Deftly kicking a soccer ball across the field with him.

Plucking a steady riff on the bass while he shredded a solo on his guitar.

He felt himself speak, "Brian…"

Brian turned his head toward the bathroom door. As they made eye contact, Matthew's legs felt weak and he could barely stand up anymore.

Brian smiled slightly, it most likely would have been more if a spear wasn't at his throat. "Jackson? Is that you? Could you come out please? I just want to ask some questions, nothing more."

He hadn't seen him yet. There was still a chance to break away from all of this and get out hopefully unscathed.

"You know he's just going to keep tracking you down."

Matthew looked and saw Neo leaning against the sink, arms folded across his chest.

_Doesn't matter, I still have to get out of here._

"Sure, I wonder if you can handle keeping your face out of his sight the entire time."

_I'll have to. If I have to erase some of his memory I'll…_

He couldn't do it. How could he? Thirteen years of nothing then finally seeing Brian again and what was he planning to do? Run away again. Because of course he was, that's all he had been doing for so damn long. Just running away at the feeling of trouble.

But he couldn't run away from this. Knowing that his best friend was still looking for him after all this time was something so overbearing he could feel the anxiety build up already.

"After all this time, after all that he went through to get here, are you really gonna leave again?" asked Neo.

Matthew let his head drop, wiping his eyes as though he expected tears to eventually begin falling.

"Hey Jackson? You almost done in there?" Brian said, trying to maneuver his head to a better vantage point without impaling his neck.

Matthew took a quivering breath and opened the door.

His eyes immediately went to Shali's, whose eyes were concerned for him. He nodded and she lowered her spear from Brian's throat.

"H-hey, Brian," he said quietly, finally turning his vision over to him, "It's b-been awhile, huh?"

Brian's face, which had, up to this point, only carried an expression of calm and inquisitive, became an amalgamation of surprise, horrification, relief, happiness and so many more emotions that he couldn't show on just one face. His breathing became uneven and raspy, making him drop his hands to cover his mouth.

Shali went over to Matthew's side. "I only answered the door, I-I didn't know he was going to b-barge in like that," she said.

"It's fine, it's fine. H-He's not a bad person," he replied back, still keeping his eyes on Brian.

Brian was still in his frantic state, emotions cycling through his face and supersonic speeds, although his breathing had steadied for the most part. He carefully removed his hands from his mouth and let them down to his sides. "Matthew?" he said huskily.

"Yeah, it's me, Brian. I'm here," said Matthew. He didn't know what was going to happen next, he was pretty sure no one was sure of it.

With the utmost caution and patience, Brian further calmed his breathing and oscillating emotions and brought a hand down to his waist. After a quick sigh, he pulled handcuffs from his belt and started walking towards Matthew.

Shali saw the motion and raised her spear again. Her teeth barred and a low growl came from her, stopping Brian from moving forward. Matthew turned to her and shook his head.

"It's okay, Shali. He's not going to hurt us."

She dropped her spear down but only by a small degree, still prepared to make a strike if necessary.

Brian continued and was soon in front of them. Averting his gaze from them, he said, "Turn around, Matthew."

Matthew complied, and as soon as he was fully turned away, he felt cold metal brush up against his wrists. Brian's hands came down and forced his own into the cuffs and snapped them shut. He found they were uncomfortable but not nearly as tight as he imagined they would be.

In a remarkably clear voice that could only belong to a police officer, Brian said, "Matthew Alexander, I am arresting you under the charge of…" he paused, "... unauthorized firearms use."

Matthew was jerked back around by Brian. Shali appeared at his side, looking worried about their current situation. He tried to smile assuringly but even he was having trouble thinking that this was the correct solution for him to take.

They began moving towards the door but Matthew stopped them.

"Wait," he said, "I need my toque. Th-they can't see my hair, they'll know."

Brian hesitated but walked away from Matthew and grabbed the toque that was lying on the ground beside his bed. He put it over Matthew's head and tucked in any loose strands that he could see.

"Thanks."

There was no response from the detective, only the brisk transition back into pushing him forward.

Shali rushed up to walk beside Matthew. "Matthew, what are you doing?"

"It's okay, Shali," he whispered, "We're gonna be alright." But as they walked down the hall, he realized he was trying to assure himself that he made the right choice rather than her.

* * *

Pele awoke at the sound of a car door unlocking. He got up and looked around the car, finding that the sound came from the back.

From the driver's window, he saw Brian which eased him. It wasn't just some random person.

The back door opened and Pele turned his attention over to that. He saw a human slide into the backseat, hands behind his back. A toque covered most of his head but from a few strands that Pele could barely see, it was almost like the hair under the toque was white.

Interested, he hopped on top of the center console and put his paws up to the wired fence that cut the back half of the car off. He looked down at the human, wondering what had happened to get him here. The human looked up at him, gave a small smile, and then turned his head to the still-open door.

The human nodded and another passenger stepped into the car. This time it was a Lucario who brought a spear in as well. She glanced at Pele and there was a moment of pause between them. She growled suddenly and made Pele lose balance. He fell back onto the passenger seat.

He jumped back up and shook his body. The driver door opened and Brian got in, wiping his face as soon as he settled into his seat.

"Hey, Brian!" said Pele, trying to get his attention, "Who are they?"

Brian brought a tired gaze over to Pele, "I don't know, bud." He shoved his keys into the ignition and turned them, "Honestly, I don't know."

* * *

Shali still had no idea what was happening. One moment, everything had been relatively fine. But as soon as that door opened, and that human, 'Brian', had come into their room, everything had been lost in the confusion.

The one thing she was certain of was the fact that they were in a vehicle and being taken somewhere. She didn't know where, and she was confident that Matthew didn't know either. But still, there seemed to be a little piece of him that caused him to think that he had an idea of where they might end up.

And just what was Matthew's endgame here? When she had drawn her spear against Brian, she imagined he would simply use his psychic to knock him out or something. Instead, he comes out with no aggression and greets Brian almost like he was scared. Then, for some unknown reason, allowed Brian to bind his hands and move him to this car.

But even so, she didn't want to ask him right then. Matthew's aura was showing a vastness of anxiety, not directed at Brian like she had thought, but at their situation.

She looked at him worried, there was probably a lot that neither of them fully comprehended right now.

Matthew turned to her, giving that same grin he had given her when they were leaving the room. Although it seemed to have lost much of assurance it once possessed. It quickly folded down into a frown after finding no reciprocation.

The vehicle slowed down and stopped abruptly, causing them both to shift from their seats. There was a click and the engine was killed.

Shali looked out of the window. There weren't any buildings around them anymore and instead there were houses lined neatly along the road, all of which had a healthy layer of snow on their roofs. She felt a subconscious sigh of relief leave her lips. Getting out of the city made her feel so much better.

Brian opened his door and left the vehicle. He quickly reappeared on Matthew's side, opening the door and letting Matthew step out. She followed quickly and stayed close to Brian, watching for any uncertain moves. His aura didn't seem to harbor any aggression towards either of them but after what she had gone through to get here, she felt it safe to be extra cautious.

They stopped at the door to the house they had pulled up to. Brian got out his keys and unlocked the door.

The interior was dimly lit by the outside as light petered in from the open door. It was a living room with very minimal furniture but it seemed very well lived in.

Shali heard a click and turned to see Matthew's hands no longer bound by the cuffs he had been given. He rubbed his wrists where the metal had pushed into it.

"Umm…" Brian whispered, "If you could, just stay here for a while… I have some things to finish up at work… Eat anything you want.. Bathroom is the first door on the left down the hall." He turned around and went back outside, "Just… please don't leave, not right now." The door closed.

Shali looked back at where Matthew once was, only to see him standing by the coffee table. He appeared to be looking at the open-faced book that was lying on it.

"Matthew, _please_ tell me you knew what you were doing," she said, trying not to sound too vexed.

There was little response; he merely turned away from her.

She was taken aback by this motion, it was surprising to see him like this. She looked into his aura again. There was conflict, amassing itself inside him like a plague running out of control. She got closer, beginning to see the minor tremble his body seemed to hold.

"Matthew?" she asked, more gentle this time. Again, there was no response from him.

She tilted her head down to the book he had been looking at. It was full of pictures of many humans on grass. All of them were wearing the exact same outfit, reminding her of the soccer game that she had watched in their room.

Then, she realized it _was_ soccer. That this was a collection of team pictures.

And there, in the bottom left corner, was a photo of two humans, one of which had their hand behind the other's head, giving the appearance of bunny ears. One of them had a marginally similar face to Brian while the other was practically identical to Matthew. The only difference would be the hair colour.

With utmost care, she said, "He's… your friend?"

Matthew nodded and trembled more. He turned around to face Shali.

She had to hold back a gasp as she saw how his face had been absolutely torn apart by tears and grief. He still seemed to be struggling to restrain a few more tears that we're building at the bases of his eyes. Never before had she seen him like this, and she prayed that she would never see him like that ever again.

He suddenly hugged her, pulling her close but with a loose hold that she could have easily backed out of. But she didn't. Matthew needed it, he needed someone to just be there. She wrapped her arms around him.

"H-He was my friend…" said Matthew, few words getting through that weren't obscured by his hysteric state. "I n-n-nearly forgot about him all those years," there was a big sniffle from him, "And he never stopped fucking looking…"

Unsure of how to comfort him further, she continued holding on. It seemed to work, as his cries slightly lowered in volume. "Matthew, you didn't know about it… It's not your fault…"

"He spent so much time looking for me…" he moaned, "How the hell am I supposed to look him in the eye now?"

She hugged him tight, "You're smart, you'll know how…"

"I-I just…"

"Matthew."

She pulled out of the hug by only a little bit and looked at him. His face had improved immensely, no longer completely broken by everything that was eating him up inside. "Brian, your friend, he _knows_ you. He still _cares_ about you, that's why he's been looking for so long."

He took one of his hands and wiped his eyes of the tears that had collected there. A solemn chuckle left his lips, almost sounding like crying. "I just…" he inhaled sharply, "I just don't know what to do."

She put a paw up to his cheek and wiped away one tear he had missed. "Talk to him. I won't be there, neither will that Growlithe. It's just you and him." She smiled, trying to get him further out of the rut he was in.

Her smile brought out a little bit of his. Not nearly as radiant but it was something positive. "Talking to a detective? Heh, I'm gonna get torn apart by the questions he's gonna ask…"

"You'll be okay."

"I know, but it's gonna be tough."

"I'm sure you've gone through worse."

"Not by much."

He looked down, back at the photos. There was still hurt on his face, but a new, slightly warmer feeling of nostalgia had introduced itself into his aura. Shali's smile grew, knowing that he would be able to get through it.

The hug parted, and she realized they had been embracing one another for a rather long time. She found herself recalling the thoughts Neo had implanted in her head.

_I did this because he helped me, nothing more than that,_ she thought to herself. And although it was true, the doubt that followed was monstrous.

_What were you going to say, Shali?_

_I don't know_ , she thought, _but I desperately want to._

* * *

Brian had Pele on his lap, petting him slow and not really paying attention to the world around him.

They were back at the precinct. Brian was at his desk once again but instead of staring at the monitor, this time it was at his little partner. Surprisingly enough, Derek still hadn't shown up.

He wanted to think about something, _anything_ , else, but there was just no way of that ever happening any time soon. The day when he saw Matthew on the side of the road had set out a path for him. And today, he was reaping the rewards from said path.

But those rewards were something far more than he could ever handle. Matthew had changed, a lot. More than he could ever imagine.

Pele nuzzled against his hand, not for the return of extra pets, only to comfort. He hadn't given him one of those looks for as long as Matthew and the Lucario had left their car. He seemed to know that this was what was eating him up. It made him wonder what would have happened if he had let Pele help him earlier.

_If I did that, I'm pretty sure Matthew wouldn't be sitting in my house right now_ , he thought somewhat cynically. Maybe that wasn't true, but it was hard for him to see it from another perspective.

"What am I gonna do, Pele?" he muttered, "Arceus, he had white fucking hair. White as the goddamn snow."

"Growl.. Growlithe.. Lithe.. Growl!" said Pele, looking up to Brian.

"Maybe I made a mistake in this… I should have just left the pokemon center when I saw him. I could've seen that he was still alive and be done with this nightmare. I could've thrown in all behind me and forget about it…"

He lethargically leaned forward and grabbed his coffee on the desk and took a sip, not really feeling his tongue burning from the hot liquid. _But what the hell do I know? I just dropped off my white-haired psychic best friend who was missing for thirteen years and a Lucario who nearly poked a clean hole through my neck._

Perhaps he was thinking about it the wrong way. Matthew was there, in his home. He didn't try to resist his arrest and even stopped the Lucario from trying to prevent it. Was he really like him and just wanted a chance to talk to his best friend again?

Pele rubbed his head on Brian's hand. He realized that he had stopped petting him during his contemplation.

"Sorry, bud. I guess I'm a little overwhelmed," he said, going back to gentle strokes down Pele's back. "I don't think I'll ever understand everything that went on today."

He leaned back in his chair, still petting the Growlithe. He wanted to return to the world he knew three days ago. Everything that world had was something _understandable_. He wasn't the only human being in the world who knew what was happening and how.

Whatever world he was in now was the embodiment of a chaotic enigma. One that was populated by psychic best friends, Lucarios that wield spears and a whole secret organization that was surveying everything, had given Matthew his psychic powers and was so much more dangerous than Team Rocket had ever been. And if they got what they wanted, then the Orwellian dystopia that so many movies painted a picture of would become reality. What a world. What a fucking world.

"Matthew," he mumbled to himself, "Please still be there when I get back."

* * *

He was glad that the couch he was sitting on was comfortable because he didn't feel that way in the slightest.

Matthew and Shali were in Brian's living room, both of them anticipating Brian's return to be soon. The sun had just barely touched the horizon as the sky turned to a collage of reds and oranges.

"I don't think I'm ready for this," he said.

"You are. Just remember that he's your friend."

As she said that, the bright headlights of a car peered in through the closed blinds. The lights eventually stopped moving and then ceased shining completely.

He was nearly ready to just grab Shali's hand and teleport out of there. It was too much, this whole thing was too much. He had made a mistake, but not one he couldn't get out off so-

His hand was in Shali's paw, making the connection. A light but firm squeeze from her shut down his train of self-doubt.

"You'll be okay," she said, "I promise."

She stood up and as she walked away, the connection broke and he felt an almost empty feeling.

His eyes followed Shali as she went down the hallway, and the only reason they snapped back to the door was from the sound of keys being slid into the lock.

_It's gonna be alright, we're just two friends having a conversation,_ he thought.

The door creaked open and Brian stepped inside, barely taking a glance at Matthew as he leaned down and took off his boots.

"Pele, go down the hall into my room, alright?" Matthew heard Brian say.

A Growlithe, the same one he had seen in the car, came through the door. It looked at him, tilted its head and said, "Hey! Who are you?"

The hyper yet curious voice juxtaposed so much against the situation that Matthew couldn't resist the little smile coming to him.

But Brian managed to answer before him. "His name is Matthew, Pele." He kicked off his boots and placed them down by the door. "Just head into the bedroom, alright? I'll talk to him.."

The Growlithe, Pele, gave Matthew one more look and then trotted back past Brian to go down the hall. Considering how Shali had reacted to him before, Matthew hoped that Pele would try and stay clear of her, at least for the time being.

There was silence after the pitter-patter of Pele's steps faded and the two of them were left with one another.

Brian looked at him, and although he partially expected it, Matthew still cringed at the lack of warmth from his gaze. It wasn't surprising that Brian didn't quite see him as the friend he once knew.

He walked over and sat down on the loveseat opposite to the couch, never taking his eyes off.

"Um… hey, Brian," Matthew started, "...I'm still here, like you asked. D-did you… want to talk about something or..?"

"Something? Really, Matthew? We finally see each other after thirteen years and you just want to talk about something?" he said in a tone that made Matthew feel like a suspect being interrogated.

"No, Brian, that's not what I-"

"You think I'm just gonna pass off what I saw today and just talk about something?"

"Of course not but-"

"Then let's talk, Matthew. I'll ask and you answer, got it?"

He was about to speak out again, but caught himself. If they really were going to get through this patch, he needed to shut his mouth and let Brian talk.

Seeing that his friend no longer had anything else to say, Brian said, "What's your name?"

Matthew raised an eyebrow, "Brian, you know my name, it's Matthew."

"Full name."

He sighed, trying to figure out the angle Brian was coming from, "Matthew Elgin Alexander."

There was a nod from the detective, "Date of birth?"

_What the hell is he doing?_ he thought, yet still answering, "February 16th, 1989. You came to my birthday party every year, don't you remember?"

"Where were you for the past thirteen years?" Brian asked, ignoring Matthew.

This time he didn't answer, "If you found me then that means you found the video. You know exactly where I've been."

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Answer the _fucking_ question."

There was something _very_ wrong here. Whatever Brian was doing, he didn't seem like himself. It was certainly possible that Brian changed over time, throughout when he wasn't present, but to this degree? To his own old best friend as well? It was such a turn from what he saw earlier.

"For the first seven years I was in the Deity Lab run by Team Saber, not that you would need reminding, and up until now I've just been in between spots, trying my best to stay out of their radar," he said quietly.

"And you didn't even think twice about coming into contact with anyone? Anyone at all?" Brian said, the moment Matthew finished his sentence.

"No, I didn't, Brian. And you wanna know why?" he stopped and stood up, feeling bitter toxins building in his words, "I was scared! I could barely walk five feet anywhere without twisting my head around like I was a Noctowl or something."

"But you didn't think about coming back to me? To your family? To-"

"No. Shut up, Brian," he said, losing the adrenaline rush he had. Now his voice was becoming shaky, "Can it with the i-interrogation talk. I'm not a criminal or a s-s-suspect or whatever…" He paused, taking in a huge breath, "I'm y-your friend, and I w-wanna talk... can't we just do that?"

Matthew slumped back into the couch, exhausted from the miniature rant. This was definitely not how he wanted this conversation to go. Sure, he didn't assume that it would be all smooth and peachy, but this was completely blown out of the water.

He felt a headache coming on, nothing large, but on top of what just happened, it was more of nuisance than he would have liked it to be. He raised his hand up and rubbed his forehead.

"...Are you having a headache?" asked Brian, his voice now devoid of any interrogative tones.

Matthew looked at him, noticing how his expression had softened. "A little bit. Why?"

"I remember from your video. You started rubbing your head like that about halfway through," he said, "I… uhh, I think I have some ibuprofen in the bathroom… if you want it, I could-"

"It's not that bad… thanks for offering, though." He stopped rubbing, it had dimmed for now.

"And… they come from your psychic, I guess?"

Matthew nodded, "Yeah. They're not unbearable, if that's what you were thinking. I guess I've built up a tolerance for them over time."

Brian let himself rest back on the loveseat, "Your healing, you have that too, right? That's how…" he took a moment to breathe, "That's how you were able to shoot yourself."

"Yes, that's how… I.. uhh.. I hope I didn't give your officers a hard time, you know, cleaning up my blood, heheh." His laughing tapered off as he felt his attempt at lightening the mood fall flat.

But to his surprise, Brian uttered a chuckle, shaking his head as he did so, "I forgot how bad your sense of humor was."

Matthew smiled, finally being able to find that common ground that had not been touched for so long. "I'm glad that it still has its charm."

"Sure, keep saying that."

"Well it's not like it could get any worse."

"I'm certain it could."

"I thought you missed me."

"I think that was the one part I didn't miss too much."

They both had a share of laughter, not because of the funniness of their banter, but because of the release they both felt as they did so. The reminder that, yes, there used to be a friendship between them and that there was still a glimmer of that old, amicable bond to date.

"Man… I wish we could have met up under better circumstances," said Brian.

"Couldn't agree with you more," replied Matthew, "But it seems the universe might not be in our favour. If I had it my way, I'd have a good job and have a drink with you on weekends."

Brian leaned forward in his seat, "That certainly would be a better timeline. Instead we got an organization that's taking over the world."

"Yeah… yeah, if only."

"That's life for you."

Matthew gave a smirk and settled in the couch, reflecting on Brian's words. _Yep, that's life. It sucks way more than it should, but that's life._ He felt his headache leave entirely now, thankfully, but it would return again, of course, because that's life.

Life had been dealing him a shit hand for quite a long time. Only now was he starting to get some good luck again. First with Shali, now here with Brian. The fact that it could have been so much different had been known to him for a long time, but he had always just accepted it and moved on. Now that it was in front of him, he felt oddly comfortable in the position he was in.

Matthew looked up, realizing that Brian had been giving him an odd look for the past little bit.

"Uh… Hey, Brian… what are you-"

Brian's look turned analytical. Then his eyes eased and he said, "You know, if I have to be fully honest with you…" he paused momentarily, "I don't think you're really cut out for this kind of thing."

Matthew was a bit confused about what he meant by that.

Brian continued, "I mean, that's not to say you _can't_ do it or anything. It's just that I've seen my fair share of guys who've done some excessive stuff because of duress or something else. To be blunt, I think that you're feeling more _forced_ into this rather than simply _doing_ it."

Now he understood. He understood perfectly, and couldn't agree more. "I know, but someone's gotta do it. Whether _I_ want to or not doesn't matter in the long run."

The detective stood up, "That doesn't mean you have to do it all by yourself."

"Come on, Brian. You don't wanna get involved with all of this."

"Maybe I do. After all, isn't it a police officer's duty to protect and serve the public? The whole world seems to fall into that category."

"It's not like I need any help, I'm able to get around and-"

"And deliver your messages, I get it," Brian finished for him. "But hey, if I was able to catch up with you, how long will it take for another detective in a different town to?"

Matthew thought about it. There was always the option of erasing memory, but that was something he dismissed immediately. It wasn't something he wouldn't even want to come close to using.

"Well?" Brian asked.

Matthew stood up as well, "Alright, you can help. Just be cautious, deal?" He stuck out his hand.

Brian did the same, and they were locked in a handshake. "Sounds like a deal."

"You're gonna have to be a little more wary about what you do."

"I can manage, I was always prepared to adjust for when you messed up the tempo on your bass."

"Says the man who broke three strings at once by down-picking too hard."

Their handshake folded inward and the two friends hugged.

"I've missed you, Matthew," said Brian.

"I've missed you too, Brian," Matthew replied.

"I just... have so many things I want to say. I'm not sure I'll be able to get it all out."

"Let's just settle down for tomorrow. I think both of us have had a certainly unexpected day."

They hugged for only a few more seconds before they parted. Both of them stepped back and Matthew put his hand up to scratch his head.

"So... I guess you wouldn't mind Shali and I staying the night then?"

"Oh, so that's who the Lucario was? I hope she and Pele can get along alright."

"Considering that I haven't heard any scuffle yet, I think they'll be okay."

"Well, if that's the case, then I think sleeping arrangements can be made. I have a spare bedroom that's mostly been my extra storage space, but there's still a bed in there."

"I'm sure that'll be fine, thank you."

Brian nodded, "It's down the hall, the room past the bathroom."

"Alright, thanks. I should probably talk to Shali. She might be wondering about the whole thing that's going on here."

"Sounds good."

Matthew gave his friend a final glance before turning off into the hallway. He could still feel the smile on his face, broad and indelible. But he couldn't imagine it any other way, because this smile had been the one of his childhood.

He saw Shali standing in the spare room, the one they would soon sleep in, and walked towards her.

Her back was turned, but as he approached, she turned around and smiled, "Judging by your smile, I would assume that you were successful."

Although it seemed unfeasible, his smile got larger. "The conversation went well, and I really can't thank you enough for getting my head back on track."

"It wasn't anything, Matthew, I just hope you're feeling a lot better than before."

"Miles better."

"Good."

Matthew looked over her shoulder and observed the room around him. As stated by Brian, it was rather cluttered with many miscellaneous items, but there was a bed that seemed fairly comfortable.

Shali's eyes saw his shift in focus and turned around as well, "Is this where we're sleeping tonight?"

"That's the plan, and hopefully we'll be able to stay here for a while."

She looked around, "There appears to be a flaw in your plan."

He raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"

"I can only see one bed here."

Matthew's eyes widened and the smile faded, "O-Oh, well… uh… um… Well that's really… Okay… then we'll just…" Although he didn't manage to get any words out, his mind produced one coherent thought.

_Whatever the sleeping situation is, tomorrow will certainly be interesting._


	11. Pushing And Shoving

" _One of the first things that come to one's mind when you realize you have something no one else does is the feeling of power. You feel it overwhelming you and think that you can do anything. It's a high that is near unmatched._

" _I remember feeling like that when I first used my psychic. I felt like I could break out of the Deity Lab there and then. Of course, that didn't happen._

" _But that feeling remains… At least until reality punches you in the face."_

* * *

The first thing Matthew realized when he woke up was the intense ache in his back. He had expected something like this after sleeping on the hardwood floor for so long but if he knew that it would be _this_ bad, he might have taken Shali up on her deal.

There had only been one bed. It definitely had the space to hold the two of them together but their thoughts had strayed from that idea rather quickly. Both knew _why_ but didn't dare bother mentioning it to each other.

Shali was the one to start up the conversation, saying that Matthew could take the bed and she could sleep on the floor. "I've slept on worse for much longer," she had said.

His retort had been quick, claiming that he would be fine sleeping on the floor. The idea of sleeping on the couch had been there, but considering it was in the living room and so close to the window, he dismissed it.

Their back and forth went on, and Shali would not let up no matter what Matthew said in return. But in the end he managed to win over her on the basis that he would take all the blankets and comforter from the bed to keep warm with. It had sounded reasonable and he didn't think there was anything wrong with it at the time.

_Damn… my back is so fucking sore..._

He had thought that using the comforter as a pseudo-mattress would have taken at least _some_ of the discomfort but apparently not. For now, he could bear it, but there had to be a better long-term solution if he was to stay here for longer, which seemed to be the case.

He leaned up, letting the blankets fall off him, and stretched out his arms. The soreness began to fade. Despite his back, he had slept rather well. _My mind was at ease, I guess._

His eyes drifted over to the bed. Shali was laying upon it, eyes closed and her spear beside her, lightly gripped in her hand. There had been no nightmares last night, it seemed. Which was good, he was glad that she managed to get a good night's sleep considering everything that had happened yesterday.

He pushed off the rest of the blankets and got up, stretching his back some more as he did so. Lazily, he bent back down to snag the shirt which Brian had gotten for him. It was nothing more than a light blue t-shirt but he was still thankful for it. No longer did he need to wear a raggy shirt with a hole burned through it. He put it on. It was certainly a little loose for him but that was fine.

Shali shifted in her position, causing him to glance back at her. She hadn't woken up yet but he figured that would be soon.

He went over to the door and stepped out of the room, being careful to close it quietly for Shali so as to not wake her up.

As he stepped into the hallway, he noticed a particular smell hanging in the air. It was a fragrance that started making his mouth water as soon as he realized what it was.

_Eggs. Good fried eggs._

Now he could hear the light sizzling trailing with the heavenly scent. The steady crackling of what would soon hopefully be a good start to the day.

_Today's gonna be a good day,_ he thought to himself. _And nothing can-_

"Arceus, fuck!"

A sudden shout that most likely came from Brian caused Matthew to freeze and the quick _clang_ of metal made him jump a bit. He started onward again, increasing his pace as he did so. The shout didn't sound pained or anything of such, but it still riddled him with urgency.

Carefully, he poked his head around the corner, making sure the blinds to the windows were drawn. After confirming, he went into the kitchen.

Brian was standing in front of the stove, clutching his left hand with his right and gritting his teeth. His eyes were looking down to the floor which had a large mess of yellow and white chunks of eggs. Near the mess was a black cast iron pan that was still sizzling.

Pele was sitting obediently behind Brian but was drooling at the sight of the eggs on the floor.

"Brian?" Matthew asked.

Brian jumped at his name being called and turned quickly. After seeing it was Matthew, the tension faded. "Oh… hey, Matthew."

He pointed at the eggs on the floor, "I guess that's why I heard you cursing from the hallway."

"Heh, that's what I get for trying to make breakfast for my guests."

"You know, you didn't have to-"

"No, it's fine. It's just… stupid pan heated up more than I thought. And now I got a mess and a pan that's too hot to touch. It's just a really shitty start to the morning."

Matthew found a smile forming at the corners of his mouth. "Hey, I can clean it up."

Brian shook his head, "No, I can do it later. You can just relax and-"

"C'mon, let me help. It'll be over and done with real quick. Run your hand under some water and I'll deal with it."

He looked down to the floor and then back up to Matthew, shooting him a thumbs up. He turned around to the sink and began running water from it.

Matthew nodded in return. He extended his arm and felt the psychic run through him. The pan was immediately surrounded by the pink energy and lifted into the air. He directed it back to the stove and let it rest on top of the dull red element.

After that, he brought his attention back to the eggs. The Growlithe had not been able to resist the urge and had started devouring them. "Um... Pele, right? Could you move?"

Pele looked up and gave him baby-doll eyes. "Come on, please?"

"I'm sure Brian will treat you to something better than stuff that's been on the floor. I just want to clean it up now."

Pele kept up the innocence for a few more seconds and then resorted to pouting. "Fine…"

The energy manifested itself like a large funnel and collected the chunks into one large clump.

"Brian? Where's the trash can at?" asked Matthew.

Keeping his burned hand under the tap, Brian looked back. "It's under the sink I'll…" As he saw the levitating group of eggs, his voice dwindled down to nothing and a look of simple wonder was left.

"Brian, are you alright or..?"

He snapped out of his trance and continued speaking. "…Under the sink, I'll get it." With his good hand, he reached down to open the cabinet and took out the trash can.

"Thanks," said Matthew. He moved the collection of eggs over the garbage and dropped it in. "See? No problem."

Brian nodded then rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, thanks. Sorry for spacing out there, I nearly forgot you had your psychic."

"I get it, I get it. Sorry for freaking you out like that."

"No, that's fine, just… Damn, I didn't expect it to look like that. And you've had that for what, thirteen years?"

"By my count, yeah. Pretty crazy, huh?"

"No, it sounds one hundred percent, completely normal," said Brian, flashing a smirk. "It's still so hard to believe that you have those powers."

"I don't blame you. The first time I actually did something with my psychic, I had trouble believing it was real too."

Brian fetched a glass from the cupboard behind him and poured some water for himself. He took a sip, "And now we have to stop the group that gave you those powers from taking you back and taking over the world."

"That's the idea." Matthew leaned against the wall, exhaling, "And if all goes well, I should be able to get another message out today."

"Whoa, hey now." Brian, took a quick extra sip, "Are you really going out _now_ to get another message out?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Yes… why?"

He put his glass down, "Okay, so with the evidence we gathered at the precinct and a stroke of luck, I found you in about... three days, correct?"

"Sounds about right."

"Alright, now consider that you go through with this new message of yours. The police are gonna come, as I'm sure you want them to, and they're gonna collect all the evidence you left, maybe the camera, maybe not, whatever. You follow?"

"I think so."

"Sooner or later, they just might be able to conclude that you are still alive even after they confirmed that you had shot yourself. And their precinct file would match up very conveniently with a similar file we have here at my precinct. As a result, they've got a reoccurring anomaly on their radar and might be able to plan where you're going next."

Matthew slouched in his position, his head taking a tilt down to the floor. Many said that the truth hurt, but as of now, Matthew felt a bit of solace in the fact that Brian had saved him from a potential dumpster fire of a future. Maybe he couldn't get out his messages as efficiently, but if it meant he, Shali and Brian stayed safe, it was perhaps for the best.

"Then what am I supposed to do? I can't just roll over and let Team Saber go with this. They want me back before they go through with their plan, but they're gonna get sick of waiting after a while."

"Just… maybe it's better if we save this for another day. I'll walk you through some things that'll help you, hopefully. Right now-" he paused to look at his watch, "- I have to head out and do my job."

Brian picked up his coat off the floor and walked out of the kitchen, Pele racing behind him. Matthew followed the two to the front door.

Brian placed his hand on the doorknob then said, "And Matthew…"

"Yeah?"

He turned around, "I can't stop you if you want to go out or not. You know more about this situation than me so I trust you to make your own choices. But, from what I know and what I'm still figuring out, I don't think you should."

"I understand, just don't worry too much, okay? I'm able to take care of myself."

Brian gained a small smile at the corner of his mouth. "Be safe, Matthew."

"You bet."

Brian extended his fist, Matthew bumped it with his own.

And like that, the door closed behind the detective.

Matthew turned around to find Shali, standing tall with her spear beside her, behind him. She let out a yawn that Matthew found hard to describe other than cute and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning, Shali. Sleep well?"

"I did, much better than yesterday."

"Good to hear." He put his hand in his pockets, "Brian went to the precinct to do his job, he'll be back later."

"And we're on our own for now?"

"I suppose we are."

Shali thumbed the tip of her spear, "What should we do now? _Can_ we even do anything?" Her voice held the tone of someone who was bored out of their mind.

"We can, Shali. You know, we're not just limited to this house. We can go outside if we really want to."

"What about Team Saber? Aren't they watching? Aren't they going to see you?"

"Not if we go where they have no cameras." Matthew scratched the back of his head, "They may be looking everywhere but they don't have the entire world under their watch."

"So… is there a place that we can just go… now?"

He nodded, "We can, if you want." He was about to end that point of conversation at that but something kept him from it. "Why?" he asked.

Shali didn't respond immediately. She turned her head to her spear, smiled subtly and then said, "I suppose I miss the forest. This place is nice and I'm sure you're very happy about staying here… but for me, nothing can compare to the forest."

Matthew had been expected to be shocked, but that couldn't have been further from reality. "I get it. Wanting to go back, I get it, Shali. And there's nothing wrong with that."

She turned her head back, "We don't need to, if you feel more comfortable here I don't-"

"It's not a problem. And, I do know a place that is completely clear of any cameras, and that will probably be clear for some time. Do you wanna come?"

She formed a grin on her lips, "I would be ready to give you a concussion if you didn't let me."

"I'd figure you would." Matthew chuckled and walked towards Shali. "Now, teleporting is a bit weird the very first time you do it. You'll probably feel a sinking feeling, then a bunch of wind rushing you by, and the feeling of weight on your back. Nothing harmful, but it freaked the fuck out of me the first time it happened."

"Do I only need to make contact with you or..?"

"Just… uhh… maybe just hold on to my hand tight. Or.. I guess you could-"

"Have you not teleported someone else before?"

"No, no, I have. Just a few smaller pokemon that were lost. With them, I just held them in my hand or something similar… I guess it'll be a little different with you."

Shali pondered for a moment, then came close and wrapped her arms around him. "How's this then?"

Matthew felt flushed from the sudden contact but quickly l. "Y-yeah, that should be alright." He took a deep breath, clearing out any blush that was still apparent. "You ready?"

"Absolutely"

"Then let's get outta here." He slowly put his arms around her and closed his eyes, concentrating on where he wanted to go.

Soon enough, he sensed the energy building around him and Shali. And just a few seconds after that, there was a bright flash and neither of them were in the house anymore.

* * *

Colvin was sitting in his cell again, back against the cold metal wall, barely half-awake as he kept staring at the same corner he had been looking at for the past few hours.

His hair, which had once been a tame, black crew cut, was now completely white and disorganized. He didn't know when it happened, he had only regained consciousness, at least from his knowledge, about a day ago. Whatever happened to him between then and now was completely unfathomable.

_I made my decision. I wanted to get Matthew,_ he thought. He had sacrificed something, something grand, for this second chance at revenge, even if he didn't quite grasp what it was yet. And while he imagined regret coming to him sooner or later, it wasn't there yet. And as long as it wasn't, he would keep going full force.

But what had happened to him? He was injected with something, then nearly electrocuted, then complete darkness and then… then his memory stopped.

He was a Neo-human now, just like Matthew. But what did that _mean_? He was different, sure, but by how much had not been made aware to him yet. No one had talked to him about it either. He had been alone in this box with little to occupy him but some food that had been mostly ignored.

There were no powers that had made themselves apparent yet. Nothing that came out of his hand or moved when he thought about it. He had never felt any pricks of pain or headaches that might have led to something. All he had seemed to gain in the process was white hair and nothing more.

Except there _was_ something more. In the darkness, through his hazy memory, he remembered a shadow. Something was there, standing in the dark and it… spoke to him? Was that right?

It was beginning to come back to him, the deep cold infinity that he was inside with death surrounding him to snuff out his light. His thoughts of Julia, his fear that he had thrown away his life for nothing. And then the figure had offered him its hand.

"And you took it."

He tensed, and jumped to his feet, looking for the source of this voice. It sounded like it was right behind him. _That's impossible. There are no places to hide here_ , he thought.

"That may be true for you, I do not seem to have this problem."

Again the voice brushed by his ears and caused him to quickly jerk his head around. "Show yourself!" he screamed at the walls, "Don't fucking play games with me!"

"I do not mean to cause you this distress, Colvin," the voice said. At that point, Colvin realized that it was _his_ voice that was speaking to him. "It is only my nature that my voice is carried this way."

"Like I give a fuck how you talk," said Colvin, baring his teeth, "Who are you?"

"Calm yourself," the voice said, quieting down to a near whisper. "You may hear me as clear as day, but others do not. I'm sure you know what will happen if they find you making unnecessary noise."

That brought him back down to earth. Team Saber did not take kindly to those causing disorder in their environment. He had seen pepperspray, riot batons, sometimes even tazors used to get the peace they wanted. And they would stay for as long as it took to obtain that peace.

He looked to the door of his cell, waiting for someone to bang on it and yell at him to stay quiet. Nothing. He waited a bit more. Still nothing.

"Okay," he said, lowering his volume, "Now you better start answering questions or I swear to Arceus I'll-"

Colvin had turned his head away from the door, and now he stood face to face with seemingly his identical twin. Every detail that he saw was a perfect match to his own. From the tips of his hair to his feet. The twin was looking at him and smiling.

"You'll what? Smash my face in? Break my arm? Slit my throat?" The twin laughed, "I'm certain you'll find those tasks much more taxing than what you're used to."

Colvin took a step back and promptly smacked back against the wall, "W-what the hell… What kind of shit is this?" How the hell did someone else get in here? The door was locked, he knew that for a fact.

"Much like my voice, only you can see me." The twin came forward, "But you've seen me before, I know you have. The memory is almost non-existent, but you still remember the darkness, right?"

He did. Suddenly, the details began filling themselves in. As he figured out exactly who he was talking to, the twin's smile got bigger and bigger.

"You're Neo," he said finally.

"That's right, Colvin," Neo said, "Some of your colleagues call me 'The Neo Gene' but to you, I am only Neo." He chuckled, "And of course, another version of me exists within Matthew."

_No way. With those powers that Matthew has, he also has one of these things?_

"He does, in fact."

Colvin shot it a glare.

"We're connected now, Colvin. As I am within you, I share your thoughts."

He gritted his teeth in frustration. This was _not_ what he had been thinking of when he agreed to this. Powers? Yes. An identical twin of himself that could read his every thought? Abso-fucking-lutely not.

"Please, Colvin. I'm no more than an addition to your form. I do not wish to gain anything from you."

"Yeah, you say that," he said, starting to step forward. "But there's always something the other side wants. You do the job, you get paid. I know how this works, Neo, you're on _my_ turf. So tell me, what exactly do you want to get out of this?"

Neo gave him a dead stare, "I don't know, Colvin. And I don't intend to impose any requests onto you. I apologize that this is not an orthodox situation for you."

Colvin stopped moving forward, "Fine. But don't you fucking read my thoughts again."

Neo had no response for this, and Colvin turned away from him. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought if _this_ was what he had to deal with.

"I'm sorry you think that way," said Neo. "But I'm sure you can find me useful."

"Really? Better be something good because you've built up a bad rep with me already." He looked over at Neo, "Well? Show me then."

"Because your body now contains the Neo Gene, you have your own powers that you can exercise."

This peaked his interest. Of course, the powers. Something that he would have longed for when he was no more than a child. The prospect itself was enough to have you daydreaming joyfully for hours on end. "What does that mean? Do I have the same powers as Matthew? Psychic or whatever?"

"No, I don't believe you do. But I'm certain you will be all the more satisfied." Neo let out a quiet laugh, "First you need to break that light above."

"What?" Colvin swore he had heard something else.

"Break it. It's the only way you'll be able to fully exploit your powers." Neo was serious, his expression confirmed that.

"You're fucking crazy. If I do that they'll probably beat me for a good few hours."

"No they won't, not if you listen to me and learn how to use your powers."

Colvin thought about this, thinking of what future his particular actions would leave him to. "If I do this… you're going to get my powers up and running right?"

"Should you follow my instructions, it shouldn't be a problem."

The ceiling was low, and all it took was a clean swing of his fist into the fluorescent bulb and the deed was done. There was the sound of glass breaking and the entire room went dark.

… Except Colvin didn't realize that at first. Despite the lightbulb being the only source of light, it didn't look like the room had gotten any dimmer. In fact, he could see just as well _without_ the light as he could with it.

Then the alarms started blaring in his ears and he remembered what he needed to do. He looked at Neo, beginning to feel the weight of panic sink in.

Neo was ready and quickly said, "Now focus yourself, sense all the darkness that is in this room, it gives you power."

Colvin didn't waste time thinking about it and only closed his eyes and concentrated hard. The darkness in the room? He didn't think it was possible to even sense that, especially since he couldn't see any darkness as is.

And yet, at the very tips of his fingers, he felt a tingly sensation resonating around them. The sensation moved upwards, engulfing his fingers, knuckles and eventually his hands.

"Now absorb that energy, let it enter your body. It will feel odd, but you must let it happen."

Taking those instructions in, he started trying to pull the energy up from his arms. At first, there was nothing, then it started coming through at a sluggish but even pace. The energy travelled up his arms and shoulders. As it touched where his collarbone was, a cold murky feeling consumed his body and made him shudder. _No, keep it together, don't stop now._

From outside, he heard banging on his cell door. "What the hell are you doing in there, Colvin?!" He opened his eyes and saw the visor open with someone looking in at him. Seeing his hands glowing dark indigo, the visor slammed shut. The jingling of keys could be heard from the other side.

"Finish it, quickly!" Neo urged.

He didn't need to tell Colvin twice. Shaking his head to ignore the cold chill, he continued pushing the energy into his body. The coldness lowered in temperature and deepened, making him feel like a frozen pit had opened up in his body. But there was nothing more to take in after that, he had gotten it all within him.

The door burst open and he was met with two guards armed with tazors that were pointed right at him.

On instinct, he raised his hands but stopped when he saw the indigo energy radiating off of them.

"Put your fucking hands up, Colvin!" one of the guards said. They cautiously made one step forward, keeping an eye on his hands. "Don't try anything funny."

Colvin shifted his gaze over to Neo who was leaning against the opposite wall from him, just a few feet from the guards who took no notice of him.

"Feel the energy within you, and force it out. Attack them with all your might."

He clenched his hands into fists and attempted to push the energy out, but it was tense and he couldn't get through. He kept pushing more and more into it.

"Colvin! Put 'em up, now!" the other guard shouted.

The energy around his hands grew in size and erraticness, and for a brief moment they were still…

…And the next, a blast of the indigo energy shot out of his hands at high speed and collided with the closer guard's gut. The blast propelled him back into the other guard and they both shot out of his cell. All of this happened so quickly that Colvin couldn't process any of it.

The guards were in a heap opposite to him, slumped over and unconscious. Or, he was pretty sure they were only unconscious. Surely they weren't dead, right? As much energy as he thought he released, he didn't think it was enough to kill.

Was it?

With light trepidation, he looked down at his hand. It was completely unscathed, his ring completely intact, but still held a dim indigo coat that flickered angrily.

"That was well done, Colvin," said Neo. "You still have energy stored within you, but you will need to get more when you run out."

"I… I…" he tried to say, but was still looking at the guards. Their limp forms were battered from the impact, especially the one who was shot by his energy, he had a deep wound that was beginning to spill blood onto the ground and the other guard. _I did that. That energy came from me,_ he thought. The corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk, "I understand Neo."

He stepped forward out of his cell. Unsurprisingly, there were several more guards waiting for him on both his sides. At the front of the group on his left was The Doctor, who appeared very pleased.

"Well done, Colvin," said The Doctor, stepping forward with four guards in tow, "Well done indeed. I'm glad to see that you managed to perform a dark pulse so early on."

In the briefest of instances, he had the idea of unleashing his energy against all of them.

But that's as far as he got before, seemingly out of nowhere, the feeling disappeared. "Hello Doctor, sorry for the commotion," he said, putting away the smirk he had.

"Oh, don't mind that. Nothing of concern there." As though on cue, medical attendants went over to the two guards and began tending to them. "But I digress, let's get down to business, shall we?"

* * *

In a flash of electric blue light, Matthew and Shali appeared.

After a moment of shock from the sensation of teleportation, Shali turned her head, realizing she was no longer in Brian's house. Around her, there were a few trees that may have been only fifty feet tall at most, with them having a very luscious dark green tone to them. The snow was scant in the area where they were, sheltered from it by the trees.

"Umm… You okay, Shali?" Matthew asked.

She unwrapped her arms from him and stepped back, taking in even more of the scenery around them. She had been in her forest for many years and practically knew it by heart, but everywhere she looked there was something new. There was no doubt, they had teleported somewhere else.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, still looking around, "Where are we?"

"Oh, w-we're just outside of the Safari Zone in Johto. It's a bit of a younger forest area, but I find it very relaxing to me. Usually I go here if things are getting heated with Team Saber or if I just need to unwind."

Shali broke off from him a bit more and went walking towards the nearest tree to them. Her spear by her side, she reached a hand up to the bark of the tree and brushed against it. Although it was a tree she had never touched before, the feel was practically identical to the trees in her own forest.

"I know it's not really the forest you know, but… I thought you might like it."

"I do." She looked back at him, "I really do like it. Thank you for taking me here."

Matthew beamed at her reaction, "Team Saber has no idea that this place exists. Well, they might know the location but no one's gonna bother setting up cameras that would only pick up pokemon every once in a while. It'd be a waste of resources."

Shali only half-nodded at his statement, still quite captivated by the tree. She raised up her spear and, with extra precision, pressed the tip into the bark and began carving. First she drew the small circle, then came the crescents on both sides of it.

He didn't need to look down at his wrist to confirm what he saw, but did so anyway. The mark stared back up at him like an eye, but he did not feel very intimidated by it anymore. It was hard to think that he had ran away because of it only a few days ago.

She stepped back from the tree and observed her work. The mark, while slightly rough, was well formed.

Then something shifted in her, and the smile she had began to shrink. Soon, it became a frown.

Out of nowhere, she raised her spear and made two more quick cuts on her carving, both diagonal.

After all was said and done, the Aperta tribe's mark had a large 'X' driven over it.

She turned back to Matthew whose eyes had gone slightly wide from her display. She tried putting on another smile to help alleviate the pressure from the situation, although the false nature of it didn't help much.

"Would it be okay if I asked what happened or-" Matthew started to say.

"Later, if that's fine."

"Okay, Shali."

There was a brief awkward tension between them that was broken when Shali said, "So… What did you want to do?"

"Uhh… I don't know. I never really thought it through, to be honest. Did _you_ want to do anything? We pretty much have all day."

The answer was almost spontaneous, "I want to spar with you."

"What?"

"A spar, between you and me. You can use your psychic and I'll use my spear and aura."

"I-I kinda don't know the rules for this. I never actually sparred with someone before." _Azen doesn't count,_ he thought, _that was a death battle if anything._

"Just keep going until the opponent submits. But no cheap shots, if you try to injure your opponent's pride instead of their body, you are only dishonoring yourself."

"Okay, makes sense there," said Matthew, "But going until the opponent submits' sounds a little barbaric. Like, what are we supposed to do? Fight each other until one of us collapses from exhaustion? Because I know I'm not going to just submit, and I have an inkling that you aren't gonna be like that either."

"Don't worry about it too much, I'll knock you out quick and easy and that'll be it," she said, showing a smug look.

Matthew chuckled at this. "Oh really now? You're just gonna throw that down?" He shook his head, "Okay then, Shali, let's do this."

Shali nodded while also silently laughing to herself. She stepped back, keeping her front facing Matthew. She stopped when they were forty feet apart and got into a battle stance, knees bent with her spear facing toward Matthew.

He followed her example and set himself up in a stance not unlike the one he used against Azen.

"Ready?" she asked, preparing herself.

"Oh yeah."

They were both still until Shali took the initiative and burst forward in an impressive feat of speed. Matthew reacted quickly and also charged toward her, preparing the psychic force in his hands.

Both closed in on each other until-

* * *

-Colvin was thrown into the wall of the arena by the force of the hydro pump.

He coughed up some water and groaned as he felt new bruises forming along his torso. He looked back over at his opponent, a Blastoise, and used the wall to bring himself back up.

The arena was a white rectangular shape with rounded corners and stretched tall to a high ceiling that blasted them with fluorescent light.

This wasn't his first opponent but rather his fifth. And while he had managed to beat them with relative ease, it had taken a great toll on his stamina. The dark pulses that he had been firing off drained a lot of energy from him, and he was beginning to feel sluggish.

_Whatever. I'll fire off another pulse and get it over with_. He stepped forward and gathered the energy in his hands, although it felt significantly less powerful than the previous times.

The Blastoise lumbered forward and angled its body down so that its shell cannons were pointed right at Colvin.

He raised his hand and pointed it at his target. With a solid push, he launched the dark pulse.

The pulse connected with the Blastoise and shoved it backwards a good distance, but it did not fall. And after the shock had worn off, it looked back at Colvin with fury in its eyes and once again leaned down to attack him.

_What? How could it have-_

He didn't manage to get any more thought out before a blast of water shot out and knocked out his legs from under him. From the intense water pressure that he had felt, he was surprised that his legs hadn't broken.

Staring face to face with the floor of the arena, he realized what had happened.

"You've run out of energy, Colvin," said Neo. Not appearing to him but he knew that the being was still present.

_Yeah, no shit,_ he thought, getting up on one knee and pushing the rest of his body to stand. The Blastoise had a death stare locked on him, looking just as prepared to tear him apart with its bare hands as well as with its shell cannons.

"And it seems that there are no viable shadows present for you to regain your energy."

_My own shadow exists, doesn't it?_ He looked down at the darkened ground below him and extended his hand towards it. He had expected the same flow of energy from any other shadow he had observed. But as he felt nothing come from it and pulled harder, a sharp, dragging pain suddenly ravaged his body.

He doubled over and released his hold on the shadow. The pain immediately ceased.

"You took it from your shadow," said Neo, "When you take the energy from your own shadow, it will provide but you will cause yourself immense pain for each moment you take. You may become weak and vulnerable."

Colvin coughed, thankfully not blood. _Alright, so what then?_ He looked around the arena, but the overhanging light above didn't make shadows form easy. Except…

"That Blastoise over there seems to have quite a healthy shadow over there," Neo observed.

_Oh that's fucking perfect. There has to be an easier way to do this, right?_

"I don't see one."

He looked at his opponent, the turtle once again leaned its shell down, preparing to fire.

As soon as the water began to leave the cannons, Colvin dodged to the left and sprinted towards the pokemon.

The Blastoise saw this movement and let out an angered roar, beginning to shoot off short bursts of water at Colvin.

Running towards the behemoth, dodging as many of the shots as he could, Colvin prepared himself to absorb the shadow the moment he came into range of it. If he was hit point-blank with a hydro pump...

He suppressed the thought and narrowly avoided a shot that would have taken off his head.

Seeing the small human consistently strafing around its shots, the Blastoise growled and began charging its cannons once more.

_Alright, you stupid son of a bitch, here I come._

Noticing an opportunity had opened up, Colvin feinted to the left to make the pokemon lose focus and then lunged right at it. His body slid on the floor until his hands nearly brushed by the Blastoise's toes.

The pokemon turned back, realizing it had been deceived, and locked eyes with the human on the ground.

"Hey there," said Colvin, one hand on the shadow and his other glowing with indigo energy. "No hard feelings, I hope."

The energy shot out and-

* * *

-Matthew caught the aura sphere with his psychic and drove it into the ground. The dirt spit back and pattered against his face.

Sweat dripping from his forehead, he whipped his head up just in time to see the tip of the spear come two inches from his eyes.

Recalling the pattern that he had experienced before, he raised his hand and caught the spear on the back swing.

"Not this time," he said, taking slow, deep breaths.

"If you say so," Shali replied. Her leg came from the side and swept Matthew's legs from under him.

The frozen ground provided little cushion to the back of his head. And while his healing had already begun doing its job, reducing his headache to a minor throb, he was getting really tired.

He had no idea how long they had been sparring for, but by his best estimate it had to have been at least three hours. It had been not one continuous session however. There had been rounds where he had won, and those that Shali had kicked his ass in. It appeared that this round would end up as the latter.

A sudden weight on his chest forced the wind out of him. Shali had placed her foot on him and had her spear nearly against his nose.

"So… not this time?" she asked with a tinge of mockery.

There was their rule. If he managed to pin her, she couldn't use her bind to get him off. If she managed to do the same, he couldn't use his psychic.

"Okay, yeah, you got me." He raised his hands over his head and signified his submission. "But it isn't a surprise you've won the last few. If you haven't gotten the idea yet, stamina is not exactly on my side."

She took her foot off and offered her paw. Matthew took it and was brought right back up on his feet. "You did fine, I'm actually impressed you're lasting this long."

"Hey, I saw you looking a little worn out these last few rounds. It's not like you're immune." He put a hand against his chest and felt his heart racing at a million beats a minute.

"True, but I still beat you, right?"

"Okay, okay, I get it." He squatted and then sat down on the ground, regaining a regular, steady breath. "Can we take a breather?"

"Hmmm, one more round."

"Really?"

"I'm sure you got a bit more in you."

"Definitely not much."

"C'mon."

He sighed and got himself up. He raised one finger, " _One_. And only one, any more and I swear my legs are gonna be pulverized."

"Don't worry, I'll go easier on you." She thrusted her spear into the ground, keeping it propped up. "It's just a cooldown round after all. No need to go all out."

"Oh don't you get cocky with me," he let out a laugh then dropped to a lower voice, "I'll show you a cooldown round."

"I'm sure you will." She turned around and went to her usual starting spot.

Matthew also walked over to where his spot was and began building up the psychic energy.

Although the many hours of sparring had tired him greatly, he had begun seeing some certain tactics coming from Shali. She was always the one who ran towards him, usually prepared with an aura sphere to distract him while she readied her spear to strike. That was the strategy that had knocked him down many times before. Even though he should have gotten used to it, her speed proved difficult to avoid.

However, this time there was no spear to worry about. And even though a huge variable had been removed, he still needed to be vigilant.

He turned his head around and faced Shali. To his surprise, instead of seeing a readied form, it was rather relaxed. Her smile didn't convey the usual sense of determination but rather ludic.

"Ready?" he asked, not bothering to hide his apprehensive tone.

"Of course," she said nonchalantly.

_Alright, Shali. What's your game?_ he thought. _Whatever, I'm not about to let up any bit._

He used his forearm and wiped off the sweat on his forehead. It had been a tiring time, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He would be the one to move first.

His gaze narrowed and he prepared to dart over. If he could at least end this on a victory, then he could pass out from exhaustion in peace.

They stared each other down, and after a moment of calm, Matthew made his move.

As fast as he could, he ran towards her. Ready to use his psychic, he powered towards Shali, who still held her expression of playfulness.

_She isn't defending herself. Not even bothering to set herself up in a proper posture. I… No, this has to be a trap, right?_ His feet didn't drop pace as he rushed onward, starting to feel the psychic come through to his hands.

Shali did not move an inch nor did her smile lose a degree of its waggish demeanor. She was locked in that position and while her eyes seemed prepared for him, nothing else spoke that message.

He kept going, but he could feel himself lose speed as he closed in. It _was_ a trap, there was no doubt about it. He had been in situations of deception before. She would not trick him.

He slammed on his brakes and used his psychic to slow him down even further. He stopped himself no more than a meter away from the Lucario.

"Why'd you stop? You were nearly there," asked Shali.

Matthew tried to speak but only gasped air. He had no idea he had become that winded from his sprint.

He took a deep breath and tried again. "You… you're not gonna trap me."

"I don't know what you mean, I was just standing there. You could've easily taken me down."

"Like… Like that would happen. You wouldn't just…" he took another breath, "…throw the match like that."

"Come on, Matthew, look at yourself. You're tired. You would have barely made it past a minute if I went full force with you." She stepped forward and placed a paw on his shoulder. With a tiny push down, he could feel his legs begin to wobble. "See?"

She removed her paw. Matthew coughed into his elbow and spoke again, "Then why were you… just standing there…" His throat felt as dry as the Haina desert.

"I was planning to move, but I saw your aura change. You thought you were going to be trapped, even if there wasn't any."

"So was there?"

"No." She then broke out into a smile. "Well, aside from this."

She pushed him lightly. And with little strength left in him, he easily collapsed to the ground again. Landing on his back, he felt her pounce onto him and just as he tried getting his psychic out, he was aura-binded again.

"Oh, come on! You practically won already, no need to rub it in…"

"I know, this is our break." She dropped her paws down and-

"What the hell! Hahaha- S-Stop it! Hahahaha!" laughed Matthew as he struggled under the Lucario.

Shali was tickling him.

"Nope," she said simply, and kept going.

He continued to scramble and claw at the ground, all the while laughing uncontrollably. Her paws continued to scour his body and reduced him to further hysterics.

He grabbed a clump of grass and kept his grip on it. The very second Shali let up on her barrage, he took his chance and forced her weight off him. Reacting quickly while she was still taking in what had happened, he pinned down her arms and leaned over her.

"Now," he said, "my turn."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I would."

He let his hands dive down and began ticking with all his might.

"No! M-Matthew! Hehehehe- You better sto- Hehehe!"

With a hint of vindictive wickedness, he smiled and echoed Shali's words.

"Nope."

He kept on his attack, avoiding her paws that were trying to push him away. Her laughter seemed to be infectious, because he was starting to laugh with her.

Although one solid kick to the gut pushed him back to the ground, their laughter carried through.

"Arceus, what on earth are we doing?" asked Matthew.

"I don't know, but I'm definitely going to get you again sometime," Shali giggled.

"You better not."

"No promises."

He attempted sitting up and found it an impossible task. That last wrench of strength to get Shali off of him was all he had.

"Hey, Shali?"

"Hm?"

"I can't get up, could you help?"

Shali stood up and walked in front of him. A gentle smile appeared on her.

"No problem."

She leaned down and-

* * *

-watched as NH-4 began his ninth match of the day. This time it was a Machamp. While NH-4 had managed to be successful in his other matches with minimal hiccups, this one may prove to be his final one for the day.

The Doctor had been taking notes in his head as he looked on from the observation deck. It was a task he was not unfamiliar with, he had done the same thing many years ago with NH-3. But while NH-3 had taken a very long time to adapt his powers, NH-4 appeared to already have fully formed them.

"Would you say he is progressing well, Doctor?"

He turned to his right and addressed his superior, the leader of Team Saber.

She was a tall woman, fitted with dark hair that draped down over her shoulders. Her face was framed well with a very kind look that was soothing to those around her. She wore a sharp business outfit but nothing that would attract too much attention at a gathering.

Yet, despite her unsuspecting appearance, she always carried a calm yet unnerving ambiance wherever she went. It was not something The Doctor fully understood himself, but something he accepted as fact and didn't question it further.

Him, as well as everyone else in Team Saber, called her "Soul."

"Very much so. NH-4 is tracking to be ready for actual assignments in perhaps a couple weeks, a month tops."

Soul nodded and kept watching NH-4 fight. Her eyes showed little interest in the fight itself, she was rather focussed solely on NH-4.

"Why do you think I did not allow you to continue the Neo-Human project until now?" she asked.

The Doctor turned to her but could not meet her eyes. "I imagined it was because of tact. NH-3 had dealt major damage to Team Saber and we needed to rebuild. We also could not start it up until we found a way to properly handle those who were given the Neo Gene. We have decided not to give him the accelerated healing gene, in case of potential trouble. In addition, the inhibitor chips only went so far, we needed something more."

He looked behind him, seeing the many computer screens that were spitting out data at a rapid speed. A countless number of interns were in front of these screens, monitoring the data and making sure no mistakes had gotten by.

A room with such a size and so much data being processed would be enough to run a major worldwide network.

But all this was only being used to control one single man.

"NH-4 does not know, nor will he ever know. His thoughts of negativity towards us or Team Saber will be negated. It will be as if he never thought of them in the first place," The Doctor finished.

"I am aware of this," said Soul, "But that is not the reason why we held off for so long."

"Then why?" He had always assumed the logical reasoning presented to him. To actually know why was something he really wanted to hear.

Soul paused and watched the fight below, not visibly reacting to anything aside from minor winces whenever the Machamp landed a hit on NH-4. She raised an arm and pointed down.

"Colvin is our key."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "NH-4? He's nothing more than our pawn. Anyone could have risen to his level through the Neo Gene."

"No, that is not true."

"Oh?"

Soul finally turned away from the battle. Although her eyes were a brilliant deep blue, she gave off little in terms of emotion through them. Instead, she held a serene gaze that could relax even the most stressed.

"Colvin is not just a 'pawn'. He is our most powerful asset, and one that cannot be replaced," she said. Her hands came together, interlacing her fingers and holding them down by her waist. "He is someone who was trained for tasks, some who has been keenly with us for years. Whether by reward or by force, he always completed the job with flawless results.

"But there is something more that he has. Something that puts him above all others."

"And that his?"

" _Drive._ "

"Oh?"

"He has an intense drive that pushes him forward, something that fuels his urge to go above and beyond. Matthew caused him to forget everything, including his wife. I'm sure you remember when we restored his memories, how he nearly killed some of the assistants working with you."

The Doctor nodded, "I do. Even while under heavy morphine, which we thought should have contained his rage, he did significant damage."

"This kind of drive is unmatched even from our most loyal and dedicated members. It goes beyond doing this for Team Saber, he wants to get Matthew for himself." She turned from him and continued watching the battle, it was apparent that NH-4 was reaching his limit; firing off dark pulses with little aim and struggling to stand up. Soul pressed a hand against the glass and gave a very rare smile.

"And that's why he is irreplacable."

The Machamp closed in and readied a close combat. NH-4 readied a meek defense by crossing his arms in front of him, hoping to stop the incoming attack. Unsurprisingly, it did not hold, and after a few blitzing punches, he was caught in the torso. The force blasted him back and he slammed against the wall of the arena.

When he fell to the floor unceremoniously, it was clear the fight was over. He was unconscious.

The smile Soul had disappeared. "I want his injuries healed. Also, give him a larger room, there's no need for him to be in such a small cell. Make sure he is treated well." She turned to look at The Doctor, "Do you understand?"

He nodded, finding it hard to keep eye contact, "Yes, Soul."

"Good." She began walking away from the arena's window, but stopped after a few paces. "Doctor? You know why we are doing this?"

"We are doing this so the human race can experience all the benefits of the Neo Gene. So we can all ascend as Neohumans."

"Colvin is a Neohuman now, so I suggest you treat him like one." She continued walking down the lines of computers.

_How odd, I don't recall you saying the same about NH-3,_ The Doctor thought.

He looked down at the arena. The Machamp had been neutralized by its own inhibitor chip and two Team Saber members were beginning to drag NH-4 off.

The Neohuman was dragged through the now open door and-

* * *

-laid back to look up at the sky.

Matthew took in the heavenly dark purplish-orange mix with miniature twinkling light just starting to peek out. There were barely any clouds, allowing him to fully embrace the twilight.

Shali joined in and laid down beside him. "Exhausted, Matthew?" she asked.

"That's an understatement," he replied, snickering a little bit. "I'll feel sore in the morning, but I'll cope."

"Hey, you put up a really good fight, even if you were tired for the better part of it." She tilted her head over to him, "Thank you for sparring with me today. I really appreciate it."

"No problem, but I'm gonna choose something the next time we go out, and you can bet it's gonna be _a lot_ less tiring."

"Hehe, deal."

They continued looking at the stars, not having any words pass between them. Due to Matthew using his energy to keep him warm, as well as there being little to no wind, he was very comfortable in his position. The same could be said for Shali who barely felt the cold at all.

The sun set a bit further now, allowing for more stars to poke through the now purplish blue sky. Matthew began piecing together constellations despite the faintness of some of the celestial bodies and Shali appreciated the supple beauty the night portrayed. It was peaceful.

Which was what made it hard for Matthew to break the silence with the phrase: "Umm… So about earlier with that tree…"

Shali bared her teeth but did not growl. She clenched her spear hard and relaxed herself. "Must we?"

"You were the one who said you wanted to talk about it later. I would say this qualifies as later."

She rolled onto her side to look at Matthew better and he did the same to look at her.

He could tell that she had read his aura at that moment because she sighed heavily, realizing he wasn't going to let this go easily.

"Matthew, do you remember when I captured you?" she said, the reluctance in her voice easily coming out.

"Being thrown upside down and threatened at spearpoint? Yep, I would say I remember it."

Although she wasn't in the mood for it, she let herself have a little laugh. But it was short lived and her seriousness returned. "I was a border patrol for the Aperta tribe. It was my duty to roam around our territory's edges and make sure no one trespassed."

She sat up, "Another of my duties was to claim land that we either took from other tribes or had been left open." She lifted her spear and pointed it toward the tree that had been marked, "I always marked a tree with that symbol to show that we had officially claimed that piece of land."

Matthew sat up as well, stretching his back as he did. "And then what?"

"And then I was exiled."

"Oh… Sorry, I didn't-"

"No, Matthew. Don't apologize for that. I was going to leave one way or another." She laid her spear on the ground. "In that moment, when I marked that tree, I realized something." She stood up and looked down at Matthew, "My loyalty meant nothing to them. I did what I was asked to do, I protected their borders, I gave them all that they asked from me. And from it all, I was forced to be with someone I had no intentions with."

Shali took a deep breath, "If I wasn't being given the respect I deserve, I shouldn't give them my loyalty." She opened her hand and formed a small aura sphere. With minimal effort, it propelled forward and exploded onto the marked tree.

Matthew stood up, seeing bark splinter and fly out in all directions. It was a small explosion though, and the shrapnel didn't come close to hitting either of them.

When the dust settled, the area on the tree where the symbol had once been was now charred black. The tree, while missing a decent chunk of bark, was still standing strong.

He cautiously approached Shali, who was locked on to the tree as though she were waiting for it to make a wrong move. He placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jerk her head towards him.

"Time to go back?" he asked.

His words softened her expression. She looked down at her hand, and then back at Matthew. "Yes," she said, a bittersweet tone imbued into her voice, "Time to go."

Shali knelt and picked up her spear. She walked until she was in front of Matthew, and they embraced. It wasn't out of need for teleporting or need of warmth, but need of each other.

Connection.

Their hug was firm, not tight or loose, but enough for them to feel comfortable. Matthew was prepared to teleport them out of there right then, but held off. _It can wait,_ he thought, _It'll have to._

They let go of each other and both of them took a deep breath.

"So we should go now or..?" Matthew asked quietly.

"Yes, if you could that would be.."

"Yeah, okay."

They hugged again, albeit with a touch of awkwardness. He looked down to make sure Shali was ready. She nodded in confirmation.

A bright blue light filled the forest behind the Safari Zone. And after that, Matthew and Shali were gone.


	12. Under Your Skin

_ “Soul… the leader of Team Saber. She is dangerous. It’s hard to tell, initially, she speaks to you like a friend, like she actually cares. But on the flip of a switch, she can make life hell. _

_ “I- actually, no. No, I shouldn’t be talking about this. It’s too much right now… Let me get back on track...” _

* * *

“Alright, run through it again. No pauses or hitches this time,” said Brian, letting out a big yawn and stretching his arms out. They had been at this since the beginning of the day.

Matthew sighed, “I know, I just messed up a few small points. Won’t happen again.”

“Let’s hope not,” Brian grabbed his mug from the kitchen counter and took a sip of coffee, “Alright, go for it.”

He took a deep breath and wracked his brain for all the details. After a few moments, he began speaking.

“I’m going to Cianwood City, keeping a low profile and not letting anyone see any part of me. If I think anyone has recognized my face, I immediately go to a secluded location and teleport back, no exceptions. I’ll make my way toward an average hotel or motel, somewhere that not many people will be and is far enough away from a police station.”   
  
Brian interjected, “Okay then, what happens if the manager or one of the employees is someone you know?”

“I keep my head down and make sure they don’t recognize me. It’s unlikely that they will but if they do… I’ll have to erase their memory of that moment.”

“Okay, now tell me the other conditions.”

Matthew nodded, “If the place is too crowded, I leave. If there’s more than thirty percent of rooms filled, I leave. Any children, I leave. Any person who is an emergency responder, I leave. Any person who is in need for a place to stay, I leave.”

“Alright, good job. Move on.”

“I’ll get a room, one that has windows that face away from the main streets, I lock the door and shoot the bolt if it has one. Then, I record the message.”   
  
“Where are you gonna hide it?”

“Somewhere inconspicuous but could still be found. I also make sure to include a detail that will hopefully convince them not to share it around.”

“Now what?”

Matthew cringed slightly at the thought but kept talking, “I pull the trigger at an angle. It’ll hurt more but I’ll hopefully be able to recover faster while still making it look like a bloody scene.

“After that’s done, assuming that the door is still locked and shut, I teleport down to the secluded location and let myself heal fully. I can start walking a bit more liberally now, trying to get Team Saber’s attention. Once I think I’ve gotten it, I don’t need to engage, I just need to duck out of sight and teleport all the way back here.”

Brian smiled at him, “Alright, let’s put this into action.”

“Yeah, and if this hair dye would stop being so itchy I might actually get it right,” said Matthew, scratching his head, getting his fingers covered in dark brown smears.

His hair was no longer the snow white color it used to be. He and Brian had spent the early morning hours putting dye in, and had used the time it took to set to practice the plan. As of then, his new brown hair looked practically perfect with no sign of it being white.

  
“Gonna have to deal with it for now. We’ll wash it out with shampoo and baking soda afterward.” Brian took another sip from his coffee.

“That better work. As much as not getting recognized appeals to me, I don’t exactly care for eternal itchiness.”

Matthew stood up and stretched his arms, holding back the urge to scratch the itch. Today meant more progress. His second step. With Brian helping him, it would hopefully go smoother this time but all Matthew could do was hope for the best and prepare for the worst. At least this plan was safer than his original.

“So, are you ready for it?” asked Brian.

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I was completely ready,” he shrugged, “But I know I have to do it. And I’ve already used up so much time as it is.”

The detective nodded, “I’ll get your stuff. You can wait in the living room but try not to stain the couch.”

“Noted.” He walked out of the kitchen and made his way into the living room. It would be a rough day, that was certain, but it was progress.

Shali was sitting on the couch, and as he passed into the living room her ears perked and she shifted her gaze to him.

“You’re going out soon?” she asked.

He walked over and sat down on the couch close to her. “Yeah, shouldn’t be too long and…” He trailed off as he noticed her eyes weren’t on his own, but rather looking above him. “Shali, what are you-”

“Your hair. It looks… weird.”

Although it wasn’t his natural hair color, he suddenly felt a bit self-conscious. “What’s so weird about it?”

“Just... it doesn’t look like  _ your _ hair. I like your regular hair.”

“Ah, okay then. That’s fair.” He was about to lean back but remembered in time what Brian said about staining the couch. “Just so you're aware, the white hair you see isn’t really my actual hair either.”

“I know, I just prefer how you look naturally.”

  
A blush arose in his cheeks and he quickly turned his head away to hide it from Shali. “W-well… thanks.”

“When you go out there, be safe, okay?”

He looked back at her, the blush effectively gone, “I will. If all goes well I should be in and out without a scratch on me. Well… maybe a little scratch.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”   
  
He paused and then went forward with his question. “Shali, are you worried about me?”

With little hesitation, she answered, “Of course I am. Friends are allowed to worry about each other, right?”

He grinned, “Right. But you don’t need to worry that much, it’s nothing too dangerous.”

“You say that, but I’m still going to worry. I’m sure Brian will too.” She looked at him squarely, “I only ask that if you have to make a choice between finishing whatever mission you’re on and getting yourself out of danger, you pick the latter.”

He gave her a solid nod. “I promise I will.”

Shali looked at him more closely. He could tell what she was doing without looking at her raised aura sensors.

“Okay, Matthew.”

Brian walked into the living room, catching their attention. With him, he carried a backpack which looked unsuspicious on the surface. “I gave it one last check. Everything is accounted for.” He stood in front of them and held the backpack out to Matthew, “Try to take it back with you this time.”

“Heh, will do.” He stood up, took the backpack and walked to the open part of the living room. “Well, I suppose I should be going.”

“Good luck,” replied Brian.

“Be safe,” said Shali.

He nodded to the both of them. He closed his eyes and started concentrating where to go. The area around Cianwood was not unknown to him, he had come around many times before.

He pictured the surrounding cliffsides, beaches and rolling waves. His concentration grew, surrounding him in blue light. And within a few moments, a flash doused the room in light. After that, when the light dimmed, Matthew was gone.

* * *

Soul was walking at a brisk pace down one of the many halls in the Deity lab. Two guards held the lead while two others trailed behind so she was defended on both sides.

She had been notified that something had happened with Colvin. He had broken the lights in his new room. A minor issue, certainly, but standard protocol opted for discipline.

It wasn’t her job to deal with matters like this, any number of guards could have taken her place and would have dealt with the situation. But this was different. This was Colvin. If it had been anyone else, she wouldn’t have bothered.

Something just didn’t sit right with her about Colvin getting hurt unnecessarily. There were other methods of making him understand his wrongdoing without laying a few blows on him. She was going to make sure that he was treated right.

The guards in front of her came to a stop. On the left was a white door, one that opened up to a room much nicer than the containing cells. She took a step towards it and pulled out her master key card.

“None of you will accompany me inside,” she said, with a tone just sharp enough to convey her seriousness.

One of the guards spoke up, “Ma’am, I’d have to advise against this. NH-4 could possibly-”   
  


Soul replied without looking back, “You don’t need to worry. There won’t be any trouble.” She raised the key card up to the scanning panel and heard a light beep. “Make sure no one disturbs us.”

“Understood.”

The door slid to the side and revealed the lightless room. She could hardly see the opposite wall from where she stood. And yet, without fear or hesitation, she stepped inside.

Without looking back, she reached behind her and pressed the button to seal the door.

Once the last sliver of light was snuffed out, she could no longer even see the floor of the room.

“Wh-Who’s there?” a quiet voice spoke.

Soul turned her head, and with her eyes slowly adjusting to the dark, she could make out a shape huddled in the far corner of the room. She stepped closer, and now the shape began to take the form of a person. “Hello, Colvin. My name is Soul.”

“S-Soul? That name, it…” His head turned up to her and his eyes went wide. “Boss! I… I’ve only heard your name and… and…” He came out of his corner and went onto his hands and knees, “Please, boss… you can do whatever you want to me… just don’t put the lights back… It hurts…”

Looking down at Colvin, she felt a twinge of discomfort. There had been many before who had grovelled on their knees in front of her. But for Colvin to do this, it felt wrong.

She slowly went down onto her knees, reached a hand under his chin and tilted his head up. Despite the dark, she could easily see the distraught expression that seemed embedded on his face.

“I won’t hurt you. How are you?”

His eyes, still fearful but less than before, met hers. “I’m… so sorry, boss… the lights were too much…” He broke away from her eyes and pointed his head down to the floor.

“Look at me, Colvin. I’m not mad at you.” She placed her hands on his shoulders, they were trembling. “Just tell me what happened, okay?”

The trembling slowed and eventually ceased. He got up from his hands and sat only on his knees. Yet, he did not make contact with her eyes again.

“It wasn’t so bad at first… I woke up and felt fine but then…” He clenched his fists hard. “I don’t know why but the light, it just started…  _ burning. _ ”

Soul kept her hands on his shoulders, beginning to draw him in closer to her with minor resistance. “What about yesterday and before then? You fought well without much issue and there were lights everywhere.”

“That’s… I just don’t know, boss. I wish I did, I really do.” His voice dropped in volume, “Just please don’t put the lights back. Please, boss.”

The little resistance he was giving Soul crumbled away. His body caved into hers and although he weighed a considerable amount, she managed to support him.

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close. “I won’t put the lights back,” she whispered to him.

He trembled and managed to sputter out a few words; “Thank you,” he said.

A grin spread upon her face. This was what she wanted. Colvin close to her, completely at her mercy and-

_ No. Stop thinking like that. He is not yours to control. You  _ **_will_ ** _ treat him right. _

She took her hand and gently stroked his white hair. “Look up at me, Colvin. I want to see you.”

He peeked upwards at her. Even though he was a high-ranked mercenary with several years experience, he still became lost in Soul’s deep blue eyes. Without realizing it, he had gotten closer to her as well, lightly wrapping his arms around her.

“Are you feeling comfortable?” she asked.

He nodded, “Yes, boss. I am.”

  
“I would prefer it if you called me Soul. I don’t think such formalities are needed in situations like this.”

Colvin gave a weak chuckle, “Okay… Soul.”

Hearing her name being uttered from him sent an excited shiver through her body. As of then, she was perfectly content of where she was.

“Boss? The Doctor wants a word outside,” her earpiece buzzed.

Her smile faded and she regrettably stopped hugging him. She could have easily denied the request, but there was something more on her mind that she needed to deal with.

“I have to leave now. I will make the arrangements so you don’t need to deal with the lights anymore.”

His arms tightened around her for a moment and then loosened completely. “Will you come back again?” He moved his hand forward and lightly held hers, “Please?”

A small bit of her smile returned, “Of course.” She stood up from the ground and pulled her hand away. “Goodbye, Colvin.”

“G-Goodbye, Soul.”

She turned around, resisting the urge to give him one last hug. If she had done it, there was little chance that she would have left on short notice.

At the door, she held up her key card and with a light beep, the door slid open. The bright lights gave her a shock but she adjusted to them easily. But that triggered a sudden worry and she jerked her head back.

The light, thankfully, did not reach where Colvin was. With a sigh of relief, she continued out of the room.

“Soul, I must say I’m surprised to see you here,” The Doctor said, peering up at her.

“Well, I am. And we’re done here,” she replied curtly. She closed the door behind her and walked briskly by The Doctor.

He quickly caught up with her pace, “I take that you’ve disciplined him accordingly.”

“I have not.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“There was no need.” She reminded herself about what she needed to deal with and stopped short. “He said the lights were burning him, just out of the blue. Do you know anything to do with that?”

The Doctor paused and went into thought. “That does make sense. Typically the human body needs some time to take in the full effects of the Neo Gene. And considering he gained the dark type Neo Gene, something like this happening isn’t unsurprising.”

“Hmm, I see.” With a swift motion, she swept her hand around and slapped The Doctor with such force he toppled to the ground.

Clearly shocked by what had happened, he raised a shaky hand up to his now bright red cheek. His mouth opened, attempted to speak, and then closed.

“I believe I told you yesterday. Colvin deserves to be treated well. I don’t think being willingly ignorant about the potential effects is treating someone well.” Soul let her still-stinging hand rest at her side, “If you don’t do better, I might do something I’ll regret.” She turned on a dime and continued on her way, leaving The Doctor behind.

As she walked down the hallway, the stinging sensation eventually passing, her smile broadened. Everything was going perfect and if things continued in a similar manner, she would reach the light at the end of the tunnel with ease.

* * *

Matthew slumped against the side of a building and clutched the side of his head. The incessant throbbing of his relatively fresh wound pounded like a bass drum in his ears. He could feel sticky blood adhere to his fingers as he pressed his hand down.

Everything, at least so far, had been smooth sailing. He had gotten to a hotel, taken a room, recorded his message and did the deed. If the increasing sounds of sirens were any indication, the cops were called.

The hardest part was over.

He took his hand away and wiped the blood and hair dye off on his sweatpants, feeling the weight of the backpack slung on his shoulder jostle back and forth. It was time for the next step and thankfully, it should be much easier. He pushed himself away from the wall and started walking at a slow pace.

It was only Team Saber’s attention he was looking for. No contact, no conflict, nothing. All he needed to do was walk and wait for the hint that they were following.

His wound was healing at a steady rate, and once it wasn’t visible anymore, he would turn onto a much more populated street.

_ C’mon, just stop throbbing so much. I can deal with some blood but not that constant pounding,  _ he thought.

“Did you know…” a voice rang out in Matthew’s ears. “Every time you’ve pulled that trigger on your head, you would have died had it not been for  _ my _ power.”

He stopped walking and sighed. “Neo, we’ll talk later. I just need to do this.”

Matthew took one step before the form of Neo appeared in front of him. His hair remained white and he had no injury on his head.

“It’s just that I find your way of thinking so… paradoxical.”

“Yeah? And I guess that’s a problem?”

“Surely you realize that you won’t be able to keep a balance, right?”

Matthew looked at him quizzically, opened his mouth, then decided against questioning him. He had a job to do and he wasn’t about to let Neo distract him from it.

He kept going forward, through Neo and continuing onward, clutching his head. It was, at the very least, starting to feel better.

“You won’t ask? Fine then.” Neo appeared by his side, walking with him. “If you think you can simultaneously get your messages out there while also living well with your friends, you’re wrong.”

He resisted the urge to think about why that was so, knowing it would only give Neo more to spit about.

“You can’t just take the best from both worlds and manage to keep them away from each other." Neo looked straight at him. "Sooner or later, they'll come together. And I don't think I need to go into detail about what might spark from that."

Matthew gritted his teeth behind sealed lips. It was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore Neo’s diatribe.

“Oh? Perhaps I should then.” Neo smirked, “Maybe it won’t happen today, tomorrow, or even a few weeks from now, but I can tell you that it  _ will _ happen.”

_ Shut up.  _ The thought was instinctive and foolish. Neo’s voice now grew more invigorated.

“You’ll never expect it. The moment will come and you won’t be able to do anything about it.”   
  
_ Shut up, Neo!  _ Again, instinct had caused him to think that.

“I bet it’s hard to think about, the idea of Shali and Brian coming into contact with Team Saber. I wonder what would come of it?” He leaned in close to Matthew’s ear and whispered, “It would be a shame if they were somehow cornered, completely unable to defend themselves and you couldn’t do anything but watch. And then, they will d-”

“SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP, NEO!” he exploded. “I don’t need to hear it! I don’t need to hear your bullshit! I’m not going to let you keep putting these fucking thoughts into my head!”

Although his exasperation was still burning with fury, he looked to the ground and squeezed his eyes shut.

_ Just calm down, Matthew. This is what he wants.  _ He sucked in a breath…

...And a bullet ripped through his shoulder.

He stumbled and fell onto one knee, not hearing the yell of pain he had just produced. He shot a look back. What was there didn’t surprise him.

Four Team Saber grunts were a half-block away from him, all with guns drawn and pointed at him. As soon as they saw him, they began charging.

He took a step up and began running, grimacing as the wound on his shoulder tore at him, only just beginning to heal. Because of the injury, the grunts were gaining ground fast. He needed an escape route and fast.

There was a corner to an alley and he took it, a bullet grazing his arm as soon as his head was behind the wall. The alley was a dead end but he didn’t think much about that. All he needed was some time.

Matthew put his back against the cold brick wall of the alley, ignoring the puddle of slush he had just put his shoes into, and concentrated hard. It would only be a short teleport, just to the cliff where he had started.

And just as the first grunt came around the corner, Matthew disappeared.

Suddenly, the support of the wall was gone and Matthew fell backwards onto the frosty grass. He laid there for a second, looking up at the light blue sky and catching his breath, then sat up and brushed his back off. To his left, he could see the quiet city he had just escaped from. It came to him then that he had finally done it. Another step of progress. Perhaps minor in the long run but it was still something, and it had gone over almost flawlessly.

_ Well, aside from the part about not engaging them, _ he thought. He laughed and shook his head.  _ It won’t happen again _ , he promised himself.

It had all been Neo’s doing. Him rambling on about having to pick a side. At the end of the day, it was all just a bunch of bullshit that he spouted to get on Matthew’s nerves.  _ Good job, it worked, I got shot. Hope that was fun for you. _

He shrugged the thoughts off, his bitterness could wait until he was back.

He stood up, swaying dizzily as the throb in his head intensified, then eased. With a steady form, he began to concentrate again on teleporting.

He thought back to the grunts. In hindsight, it was odd that Team Saber didn’t send any electric pokemon considering they knew it was effective against him. All they had done was throw a bunch of bullets his way. What was their goal?

The picture of Brian’s living room began building in his mind. He felt the first bits of energy run through him.

It occurred to him that Neo’s intentions for getting on his nerves most likely wasn’t about Matthew getting hurt or noticed by Team Saber. As far as he knew, Neo still despised the idea of being anywhere near them. Had he really just been winding him up for the entertainment value of it? It didn’t strike him as unlikely.

As he felt more energy gather around his body, he stopped thinking so hard on it and kept focussing.

The light shined from his body in a blinding blue ball. It brightened fervently-

-And then it dimmed.

Matthew fell to the grass on his knees, hollering in pain and clutching the shoulder that had been shot.

Something was still in there. Something burning.

He brought his hand close and bit down on his knuckle hard. If anyone heard his screams and decided to check it out, there was more to worry about.

After waiting an eternity for the pain to subside, he took his hand out of his mouth. White-outlined tooth indents ran along the knuckle of his index finger, some had a few pinpricks of blood that quickly disappeared.

He looked at his shoulder. It seemed completely fine, no sign of injury anywhere. And yet, at the touch of his finger, it felt like there was hot magma just below the skin.

The bullet had gone clean through. He knew that. He had felt both sides of his shoulder heal. Was there a fragment lodged inside?

He enveloped his hand in magenta energy and carefully moved it over his shoulder, very lightly pulling at his bones and muscles to find the potential fragment.

Before long, he felt it. It was hard not to, because he nearly knocked out his front teeth by how fast he shoved his knuckle back into his mouth. The pain was so severe that his teeth dug in and let copper taste flood his mouth.

He groaned around his bloody hand. The fragment was on his nerve.  _ Of course it fucking is. _

He took a sharp breath, readying himself. He took a firm grip of the fragment inside with his psychic.

A sharp pull. A muffled yell. And at a blinding speed, a shiny piece of shrapnel exploded from his shoulder and shot into his open hand.

His hand dropped limply from his mouth, bleeding profusely until his healing got the better of it.

But it was out. He could feel relief flushing his system, and let his head hang from his neck. He spat out the blood in his mouth.

_ What a bugger. That hurt more than the actual bullet. _

The glare of the sun against the fragment brought his eyes to it. In his palm, it appeared so innocent. A piece of metal was all it was. A tiny square piece of lead. 

And… although it may have just been due to his brain still recovering from the pain, it looked like it was… flashing at him?

_ No. _

He brought the fragment close and saw there was a little red LED on a corner of it, flickering on and off.

_ This isn’t a bullet fragment. _

All at once, his heart dropped and a vehement quake wracked his body.

_ It’s a tracker. _

He crushed it with his psychic, not feeling the small shock it emitted, and let the dust fall to the ground. His breath had been ripped away, and he was only getting it back in raspy, struggling wheezes.

Two seconds. That’s all it would have taken. Two seconds and he would have teleported back to Shali and Brian with a tracker in his shoulder.

His eyes widened. The grunts. They weren’t there to attack or capture him. They wanted to track him.

And if they did, and if they actually came to Brian’s house…

Neo’s words reverberated in his head:

“You can’t just take the best from both worlds and manage to keep them away from each other. Sooner or later, they’ll come together.”

His hands raked through his hair. taking short breaths that made his chest sting. Regardless of what Neo’s intentions were, he had been right. Neo had known that something like this would happen and Matthew had ignored it.

Something wet ran down his face and disappeared into the grass. He knew it was tears. He didn’t bother wiping them.

  
“Alright, Neo, I get it!” he cried out, sending the Hoothoots in the nearby trees fleeing. “I fucking get it! You were right! Are you gonna fucking call me on that!?”

The silence was heavy. There was nothing to be heard.

Neo had said his piece.

* * *

Soul tapped her desk lightly, like a pianist playing a classic tune. She was in her office, alone.

The office was completely white, only contrasted by the black furniture of her desk, chairs, along with statues and artwork that she summed up as gaudy and worthless.

She disliked it. She disliked every bit of it.

But she was kept from alluring beckons of boredom by Colvin. Just the thought of him being there. Being in that room with him. Talking to him. It didn’t matter how he was there, just being there in any way was more than enough for her.

She needed him. And today, she saw that he needed her as well. Was it for the same reason? Most likely not, but they didn’t need a common reason, only the common need.

It had taken so long but finally her patience had paid off. What she had been striving was now in her grasp.

She had finally found an equal.

Before she was Soul, she was Samantha Browns. Young, in Eterna City University in Sinnoh, and on track to living a perfect life.

She had excelled in everything she involved herself in with only the most minor mistakes. She had been seemingly unrivaled in nearly every way. Whenever there had been a test, it wouldn’t surprise her when she heard that she had gotten a perfect score. Whenever a university event had been coming up, it wouldn’t surprise her when boys flocked to ask her out. That was the way things had always been.

As her parents had put it, she was their ‘Flawless Soul’.

Had that way of thinking gone to her head? She supposed it had. A sort of complex she had built up over the many years of constant praise. She had tried to remain humble, but with so many assuring her that she was this pristine being, that effort had proved worthless. And because of that, the problems started to unravel.

A feeling had snuck up on her. The feeling of loneliness. The feeling that because she was nearly perfect, she would never meet anyone else like her. Perhaps it was the issue of the complex, or some other inexplicable psychological feeling she couldn’t discern. For whatever reason, she felt that she could never be satisfied with just another person. It had to be with someone like her, someone who was on the same level as her. She didn’t want common ground, she wanted equal ground.

It had become quickly clear that there weren't many who could simply rise to her level. But that was all okay. In order to help, she had started bringing herself down. Purposefully making mistakes, lashing out against people who hadn’t done anything, it hurt to do it but she made due.

Of course, it hadn’t taken long for many to catch on. And once again, the persistent shower of praise kept reassuring that she was perfect. It was sickening.

After so long of dealing with it, she left everything all together. She gave no warnings to her friends, family or anyone.

It was a new life on the streets of Eterna City for her. And although the first few weeks were among the scariest and most dangerous moments in her life, she had felt that she had struck a nerve. It didn’t matter who you were or what you did, it was anyone’s game.

After months of weaving in and out of near-death situations, she had made a few friends. Friends that didn’t see her as the ‘Flawless Soul’, but just as Samantha. Together, they made a little group and called themselves ‘Gang Saber’.

It didn’t mean much at first, nothing more than a group of friends that stuck together. But territory was a vital part of living on the streets, and several rival gangs took an aggressive stance to a newcomer on their land. Territory wars started becoming the norm before long.

Although they were a smaller gang compared to the ones they faced, Samantha showed a great deal of leadership in that time. Without it, Gang Saber would have fizzled out before it even had a chance to grow.

With her as the appointed leader, Gang Saber began dominating the streets of Eterna City. But on the horizons of expansion, they had hit a brick wall. Moving throughout the city was simple, but to expand to another city entirely was much more complicated.

That was the case, at least, until Team Galactic began crumbling. The leader, Cyrus, had suddenly disappeared. Some speculated that he was sealed in the Distortion World with Giratina.

But that wasn’t the part that was important to Samantha and Gang Saber. Many of their outposts and warehouses were still operational, but they had no leaders to back them up. It was a golden opportunity.

They made their move, and with swift action and a bit of luck, they were able to claim several of the outposts with little drawback. If anything, it seemed the Team Galactic grunts were more than ready for a change in leadership.

Their grip on the Sinnoh region was now secure. From then on, they stopped calling themselves Gang Saber and became Team Saber.

With the newfound resources that Team Galactic provided, expansion became much easier. They went from region to region, conquering what they needed, but always keeping a low profile to avoid investigation by authorities. It was a difficult balance to keep, but with Samantha as their leader, they succeeded in gaining bases in most of the major regions of the world. From there, they installed cameras and wiretaps in every place imaginable. Once that was done, and all those who had suspicion of them were disposed of, Team Saber was the most powerful force in all the world.

But Samantha felt something wrong. Throughout her journey of taking Team Saber from its humble beginnings to what it was now, she always felt a slight gnawing feeling. And as she thought more on it, she realized what had happened. She was at the top again. And this time, she was higher than ever.

She nearly had a breakdown when she finally realized it. The friends that had never once saw her as flawless were now putting her up on this pedestal. A pedestal that she had made herself. Like oil added to water, she seemed to separate and rise to the top.

It hurt her deeply but she knew she couldn’t abandon the situation like she had before. She cared about Team Saber and didn’t want to see it implode as a result of her being absent.

So she gritted her teeth and accepted it. She would be the ‘Flawless Soul’ of Team Saber.

It was at this time that the Neo-Human Project began taking shape. It was housed in the Deity Lab, a massive facility housed underneath Mount Mortar in the Johto region.

The prospect was very intriguing. The idea of giving humans additional traits and powers had been attempted by many other research facilities with minor success. Human half-breeds had been shown to hold passive traits relating to the type of pokemon their parents had been, such as hardened skin or a resistance to heat, but could not replicate moves a pokemon could use such as flamethrower or thunderbolt.

However, Team Saber was not one to follow typical practice. The Doctor tested on humans who were suspicious of knowing inside knowledge of Team Saber and were deemed risks. And without the bounds of morals and ethics, results were much more profound than those found in ordinary labs.

The very first Neohuman was a thirty year old woman by the name of Amelia Sanders and she was given the fire type Neo Gene. For the first few weeks, things appeared to be fine. Unfortunately, at the end of the first month, she spontaneously caught fire and died. It was uncertain whether it was a freak accident or suicide. Either way, the fire type Neo Gene would never be used again.

The second Neohuman was a twenty three year old man named Gustav Bolton. He was given the electric type Neo Gene. Similar to Amelia, the first few weeks were without issue and seemed promising. But it followed the same pattern, and a problem arose before long. Gustav had attempted to escape by channeling all his energy and shorting out all the Deity lab’s electronics at once. The act had left him drained and barely able to walk. He was shot and killed without much effort. This had sparked the production of the inhibitor chips. After this failure, it was decided to expand the age range and see if a younger age would affect results.

It was then that Colvin came into the picture. She hadn’t felt anything for him then. She had barely even seen him up until recently. He was tasked with kidnapping three high school students to be used in the experiments.

And then there was Matthew.

With all the data The Doctor acquired, Matthew was the most successful result of the Neo-Human Project. There were little to no problems. Some close-calls, but nothing that prompted Matthew to be killed. Everyone who put work into it was ecstatic.

Samantha, now going by Soul, didn’t pay attention to Matthew at first but as time went on, she started having an increasing fascination with him. She wasn’t sure what it was at first, but it became clear soon after.

This new being, this Neohuman, it was her key. There was someone who could rise to her level and perhaps even beyond that. She had a hard time convincing herself that it was real but there was no denying it. She had found an equal.

She tried to coerce Matthew into being interested in her. She often visited him in his cell and attempted to manipulate him but he simply didn’t respond and refused to look at her. Her mind couldn’t take that as an answer. So she began indirectly hurting him; Suddenly turning on his inhibitor chip during his training so he couldn’t defend himself, not allowing food to be given to him for extended periods of time and giving him electrical shocks at random points during the day. But she always gave him the option to be with her and end his suffering.

He refused all of it. If anything, he shrunk away from her even further. Soul understood that there was no way that Matthew would be with her, so she accepted that and moved on. It was very convenient that Matthew escaped not long after she made her resolve.

They wanted to shut down the project by then, all the hard work built up over four years had gone to waste. She didn’t let them. She said to them then that Team Saber’s pledge was to improve the lives of all humans by giving them the Neo Gene. Of course, this was nothing more than a cheap spiel to hide her intentions. If they knew what she really wanted, there might be a revolution, even if she was the ‘Flawless Soul.’

There were nine years that passed. Nine years that passed without her getting another chance of coming into contact with another Neohuman. She wished that she didn’t need to, but she needed to wait until their technology improved more. She needed to be certain that the next Neohuman the Deity lab produced would be under her complete control.

And now, finally, she had gotten what she wanted. Colvin was her equal. She would not make the same mistake with Matthew. 

Soul touched her right hand, the one Colvin had held. He wanted her, she was almost certain of it. Maybe… maybe she didn’t need that controlling apparatus.

No, she would keep it for now. Only until there was zero doubt in her mind. But controlled or not…

She would treat him right.

* * *

Shali tossed and turned in her bed. It was nearly the middle of the night and she was still struggling to fall asleep.

Matthew had teleported back into Brian’s house and told Shali and Brian that the message had been delivered. Brian immediately went to ask him questions about it. She had initially felt relief that he was unharmed but one look at his aura told her there was more than she could see.

The first few questions were about how Matthew delivered his message and he answered them all truthfully. When Brian asked him if he had made any contact with Team Saber, he had said there was no engagement with them, but his aura said that he was lying.

She wanted to ask him why he lied, but then she saw the deep-rooted shame hidden in his aura and bit her tongue. If she had mentioned it, and Brian had dug into him further, things might have gotten worse.

After Brian finished his questions, he and Matthew went into the bathroom. They came out and Matthew’s hair was white once again. After that, he had gone straight to him and Shali’s room.

Brian had chalked it up as being tired from teleporting but Shali knew that wasn’t the case. Matthew was hurting, and he was trying his hardest not to show it.

She sat up and looked to the side. Matthew was lying on the blow-up mattress that Brian had brought out earlier that day. He laid on it with no blankets or comforter, leaving his body exposed to the cold night air.

It was obvious that he wasn’t sleeping. Someone who is sleeping would never have an aura this active. He was just putting up a facade.

She looked into his aura again, the shame was still very prevalent. Virtually nothing had been changed since he had gotten back. She felt a sudden twinge in her heart, she hated seeing Matthew like this.

Shali swung her legs over the bed and got up. The floorboards creaked a little bit, and she saw Matthew twitch in response to it. He knew she was there, but that didn’t deter her from approaching further.

She reached his side and went down on her knees. She put her paw on his shoulder and shook it gently. “Matthew,” she whispered, “Are you awake?”

He said nothing and shrugged her paw off of him. He turned his body away from her and faced the wall.

It wasn’t the response she was hoping for. But she couldn’t force him to do something. Not something he felt so much unrest about. If she did, then he would just close her off. She knew that’s what would happen, it was what happened with her and her father.

“Matthew, I know you’re awake but it’s okay, you don’t need to reply.” She looked down at the floor. “I know that something happened today. Brian might not have picked up on it but I did.

“I really don’t mind that you lied to him, but I’m worried about just what happened. You can’t just say that you’re okay and expect me to believe it. Whatever you’re trying to prevent me and Brian from hearing, it’s not going to get better unless you open up to us. I’m not saying that you need to tell us everything here and now, but we aren’t strangers, right? Brian’s your friend,  _ I’m  _ your friend, and we only want to help you.”

Shali looked at the blankets that were piled up next to the mattress. She picked up the largest one she could see and draped it over him. “Whenever you want to tell me what happened, I’ll listen.”

She was just about to get up when she felt something land in her paw. Her eyes landed on Matthew’s hand, jutting out from the blanket. His grip was very light but steady.

He rolled over and looked at her with softened eyes. “Just stay a little more, please. I… I do want to tell you it’s just… a lot.”

She smiled, “It’ll be okay, Matthew. You don’t have to tell me everything.”

“I think I have to. Maybe... you can help me understand it more.”

“I’ll help as much as I can.”

He sighed and let the tension release from his body. His grip on her paw increased. He felt the connection and let himself smile back at her. “Thank you, Shali… really, I mean it.” He sat up and brushed his hair out of his face with his free hand.

“Okay… here it goes.”


End file.
